Toujours
by Elle D'Elajoie
Summary: What if Blaine had enjoyed that sober kiss with Rachel at the Lima Bean? What if one of the Warblers had asked Kurt out? What if Kurt had made the choice to stay at Dalton after the creation of the Bully Whips? Season 2 AU starting during BIOTA. Some canon elements. While this story is one of friendship and romance, it also contains a lot of other elements. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**This story is a rare pairing story. It goes AU during BIOTA. Some canon elements remain, but may be presented in non-canon timing.**

This is a long story with more than 27 chapters, each with 11-12k words, plus an epilogue. It is complete.

 **This is a story of friendship and romance, but there are other elements to the story.**

 **Fanfiction does not give the author the ability to tag, so I am going to list the elements in this story that could be triggers:**

Serious injury, injury recovery, non-graphic violence, violence, canon-typical violence, aftermath of violence, threats of violence, stalking, harassment, vandalism, thoughts of running away, eating disorders, mild OCD, bullying, anxiety, suicide attempt (method used not described in detail), suicide note, minor character death.

 **If you are concerned about a particular trigger being present in this story, feel free to PM and ask. I will answer all PMs. - Elle**

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"It tastes like pink. It tastes like pink! Pink!" Rachel yelled drunkly into the microphone as the bass to "Like a G6" pumped so loudly in the room it rattled the partygoers bones.

Kurt asked Finn, "Are you not drinking?"

"No. Designated driver. What about you?"

"I'm still trying to impress Blaine. Can't get too sloppy." Kurt answered while dancing. Looking back over his shoulder at the visibly smashed Blaine, he added, "Clearly, he doesn't have the same concern."

Blaine walked up to Finn and put his left arm up on Finn's shoulder. "Hey! It's so cool that you are Kurt are brothers. Right? Like, brothers! Wow! You're so tall."

Kurt spoke up, "You having fun, Blaine?"

Blaine stepped slightly away from Finn and answered, "Yeah." Slurring his words, "This is the best party ever!" He put his left arm around Kurt and nearly fell down the tiny step off the stage he had been standing on, only managing to stay upright because he was leaning on Kurt.

Rachel started hanging on Finn and he gave her a run-down on the different types of drunks. She wasn't pleased with his assessment of her being a needy drunk and got up and walked off. She call for everyone to sit in a circle to play Spin the Bottle.

First to kiss were Sam and Brittany. Santana was not pleased and broke them up when she thought it had gone on too long. Rachel declared that she was next. She spun and it pointed to Blaine.

She pointed at Blaine and said, "Blaine Warbler, I'm gonna rock your world!"

The other New Directions were chanting, "More, more, more." And their kiss went from a closed mouth kiss to French kissing quite quickly. Both of them were really into it. Blaine wrapped his hand around the back of Rachel's neck.

Kurt said, "I think we've had enough of that," trying to get them to stop.

They pulled apart slightly, but Rachel leaned back in to kiss Blaine again. "Your face tastes awesome," she said before completely disengaging. "I think I just found a new duet partner."

Once the game was done, Blaine and Rachel were up on the stage together singing a very flirty rendition of "Don't You Want Me?" which included a bit of bumping and grinding.

Kurt was sitting looking forlorn, but attempting to pretend he was enjoying himself.

When the party finally ended, Kurt drove Blaine's car to the Hummel's because Blaine was far too drunk to drop off at his own empty house. He was so hungover the next day that Kurt ended up driving them back to Dalton as well.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The following Monday after school, Blaine and Kurt went to get coffee.

Blaine was arguing, "I didn't drink that much."

"Are you kidding? You spent the entire night sucking Rachel Berry's face."

Blaine cell phone buzzed.

Kurt continued talking as Blaine reached inside his pea coat to get his phone. "That, sir, is what we call rock bottom."

Blaine looked at the caller ID, "Oh, my God, speak of the devil."

The barista put their coffee cups on the pick up counter.

Blaine answered, "Hi, Rachel. Kurt and I were just talking about you."

They picked their cups up and walked toward a table.

"You're such a cutie pie with your blazer and your pants. So, I have a question for you. I wanted to know if you'd go out with me to see _Love Story_ tonight?"

Kurt asked Blaine, "Is she drunk?"

Blaine answered, "Um, yeah. I'll see you then."

"I look forward to it. At 6:00, don't forget," she said.

"Okay, Bye."

Blaine put his phone down.

"Rachel just asked me out."

Kurt laughed and said, "Oh, that's amazing. She's got a girl crush on you. Wait a second - why'd you say yes? You can't lead her on."

"Who says I'm leading her on?"

Kurt looked totally perplexed. "You can't be serious."

"When we kissed, it - it felt good."

"It felt good because you were drunk."

"What's the harm in going out on one crummy little date?"

Kurt leaned in and whispered, "You're gay, Blaine."

"I thought I was. But I've never even had a boyfriend before."

Kurt thought, "not for lack of effort on my part", but he kept his mouth shut.

Blaine continued, "Isn't this the time when we're supposed to figure stuff out?"

"I can't believe I'm hearing this right now."

"Maybe I'm bi. I don't know."

Kurt blurted out something that he would later regret having said. "Bisexual is a term that gay guys in high school use when they want to hold hands with girls and feel like a normal person for a change."

"Whoa. Wait, wait. Why are you so angry?"

"Because I look up to you. I admire how proud you are of who you are. I know what it's like to be in the closet, and here you are about to tiptoe back in."

Blaine got really agitated. "I'm really sorry if this hurts your feelings or your pride or whatever. But however confusing it might be for you, it's actually a lot more confusing for me. You're 100% sure who you are. Fantastic," Blaine said sarcastically. "Well, maybe we can't all be so lucky."

"Yeah, I've had a lot of luck, Blaine." Kurt's words were laced with even more sarcasm and some anger. "I was really lucky to be chased out of my high school by a bully who threatened to kill me."

"And why did he do that?"

"Because he didn't like who I was."

"Sort of exactly what you're saying to me right now, isn't it?" Blaine said disdainfully.

Kurt looked shocked and even more confused.

"I am - I'm searching, okay?"

Kurt continued to look totally lost.

"I'm honestly just trying to figure out who I am. And for you, of all people, to get down on me for that," Blaine said hatefully and continued, "I didn't think that's who you were."

Blaine stood up to leave. "I'll see you." He added a jab for extra emphasis, "I'd say 'bye', but I wouldn't want to make you angry." He picked up his satchel and walked out of the coffee shop.

Kurt just sat at the table stunned. He tried to process what had just happened. He thought about how he had confessed to having feelings for Blaine in the same coffee shop he was in. Blaine had turned him down, citing that he didn't want to hurt their friendship. But then suddenly, he's not only willing to hurt their friendship by walking out on a conversation, but he's willing to date Rachel. After one drunken kiss, he's seriously considering that he might be bisexual and he is willing to date Rachel. But he wasn't interested in considering Kurt as a potential dating partner after having spent over four months getting to know each other.

Kurt eventually picked up his empty coffee cup and the cup that Blaine left behind and threw them in the trash and called Finn to come pick him up at the coffee shop, even though it was a 30 minute drive from their house. He was going to have to get his dad to drive him back to Dalton since he had ridden to the coffee shop with Blaine.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt decided to use his unexpected evening at home to work on Burt's cooking skills, but things weren't going well.

"I would have been happy with you to teaching me how to make toast."

"Okay, I'm sorry, Dad. It's Blaine. He's interested in Rachel."

Burt turned to get something out of the fridge, "I'm confused. I thought he was gay too."

"Oh, he is, he is. He's just ... experimenting."

Burt laughed, "Yeah. He's not the only one."

"What does that mean?"

"Look, I need you to ask me before you have someone sleep over."

"We were fully clothed the entire time. Blaine was too drunk to drive, so I let him crash here. I was being responsible."

Burt asked angrily, "You kids are drinking now?"

"Finn and I didn't have any, if that's what you're worried about."

"No, I'm worried about you being inappropriate in my house."

"And if Puckerman had a sleepover with Finn, would that be inappropriate?"

"That's different."

"Because they wouldn't have sex?"

"No, I would never allow Finn to have a girl sleep over in his bed."

"But would it make you uncomfortable if he did?"

"Hey, when have I been uncomfortable with you being gay?"

"So, it's not being gay that upsets you, it's just me acting on it."

"I don't know what two gay guys do when they're together. You know, I sat through that whole _Brokeback Mountain_. From what I gather, something went down in the tent."

"What do you want from me, Dad?"

"I want you to apologize for being inappropriate and promise me you'll never do it again."

"Fine. I'm sorry. I won't have sleepovers with anyone that might be gay without asking you first," Kurt said, with his voice on edge.

"Thank you."

He turned to walk off, clearly uninterested in continuing their cooking lesson or their conversation. He got a few feet away, then turned back and said, "But maybe you could step outside your comfort zone and educate yourself, so if I have any questions, I could go to my dad like any straight son could." He turned and walked out of the room. He went straight to Finn and asked to borrow his truck for a while.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

He drove around for a while and tried to figure out what to do. His truck was at Dalton. He didn't want to spend an hour and a half in a car with his dad, even though that had been the plan after Blaine ditched him. He knew it was already too late to get Finn to drive him back. He would have asked Carole, but she was at work. He stopped at Lima Bean and ordered a decaf and sat inside for a while. It wasn't a good choice. His mind flashed back to earlier that afternoon. He was really angry with Rachel, but he thought maybe she'd come to her senses and apologize for asking the guy she knew he liked out on a date, plus he was hoping he'd get the chance to say "I told you so", just this once. She always got her way, and frankly he was sick of it.

They went down into her basement and he offered to help her clean up the mess.

"Thanks for helping with the party clean up, especially since you didn't even drink."

"I was in the neighborhood."

"At 10:00? Are you sure you're not here just to find out how my date with Blaine went?"

"Oh, was that tonight?"

"Look, we're friends, so I'm going to be honest with you. The date was lovely. We saw _Love Story_ at the Revival Theatre. We even dressed up as the characters."

"That's not gay at all." He said facetiously. "Did you kiss?"

"No. Our lips spent the evening mouthing Ali MacGraw's dialogue. Frankly, I did expect a little snog as the date drew to a close, but I guess the timing just wasn't right."

"Or the blood alcohol level."

"Look, I know that you have feelings for him and I'm sure that you think I'm crazy for asking him out. But Blaine is obviously conflicted and if he turns out not to be gay, well then, I guess I will have done you a favor."

"And I'm doing you a favor by telling you that Blaine is the first in a long line of conflicted men that you will date that will later turn out to be only the most flaming of homosexuals."

"Blaine and I have a lot in common."

"A sentiment expressed by many a hag about many a gay. Look, I don't doubt that you and Blaine would have a jolly good time shopping at Burberry and arguing about who would make the better Rum Tum Tugger. I don't dispute that. But there's something that you and Blaine will never have and that's chemistry."

"Fine. Then I'm going to prove you wrong. I'm gonna to take the beer goggles off and I'm gonna kiss him sober. And if the spark is still there, then I'm taking you to your bakery of choice for a piping-hot slice of humble pie."

Rachel got the details on when Kurt and Blaine normally went to the coffee shop and arranged to meet them there the next day.

At that point, Kurt gave up on the idea of Rachel driving him back to school.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

He left Rachel's house and walked back home. On the walk back, he called his RA and explained that he'd be spending the night at home and he'd be back for school in the morning. A few minutes later, his phone rang. His dad called because the RA called him to confirm the fact that Kurt was actually at home.

"I thought I was driving you back tonight, then you walked off and left me with a disaster in the kitchen."

"I'm sorry, Dad. I was a lot more upset about Blaine that I had realized. I needed some time to try to clear my head. I'm on my way home right now. I should be there in about five minutes."

"Fine, but we're talking more when you get here."

"Okay, Dad." Kurt hung up and kept walking.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Burt went out on the back deck to talk.

"So, why does this have you so upset? I'm trying to understand."

"Dad, Blaine was the first guy I met that's like me. He likes fashion, he likes Broadway, old movies."

"I get that."

"And now, he and Rachel enjoyed their date. She wants to meet up for coffee tomorrow where we normally go after school. Don't worry. This time I'm driving myself, if I go."

"So, they enjoyed themselves. What's that got to do with you?"

"You don't get it, Dad. If Blaine is bisexual and he dates Rachel, then he's not like me anymore. He'll pass, Dad. He'll be normal and I'll still be me, on the outside, alone."

"So, you think he won't be friends with you anymore if he starts to date Rachel?"

"Oh, he probably will be willing to be friends, after he finishes with his 'I told you so.' lecture about how he was right that he is bi."

"But you don't want to be friends with him if he's bi?"

"That's not it at all, Dad. I'm not against people being bisexual. I'm friends with at least one bisexual person, maybe two and I'm not actively opposing their sexualities."

"Then, I don't get it."

"I feel like I've been lied to. He's been this out, proud gay teen. I looked up to him for being bold and proud of who he was. It was like, 'here's this guy who could pass for straight, but who's proud enough of who he is that he doesn't hide behind his ability to pass'."

"And now?"

"And if he's bi, then he can fit right into regular society and choose a girl and no one will ever know. And I go back to being the only out gay guy that I know."

"I see."

"I guess we'll find out tomorrow. I'm going to head to bed. We have to leave really early for me not to be late to my first class tomorrow."

"Night, kiddo."

"Good night, Dad."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next day at lunch, Kurt cornered Blaine. "Please come eat with me outside. I need to talk to you."

Blaine took his tray and followed Kurt outside to an isolated bench under a tree in the corner of the courtyard.

"First off, I want to apologize for what I said about bi teen guys yesterday. I was angry, which I will explain in a minute. But it doesn't excuse what I said. I'm friends with two people that I am 99% sure are bisexual. I'm not someone who doesn't believe in bisexuality."

"Good to know," Blaine said rather flatly.

"As for why I got so angry. Please try to listen without interrupting." He explained exactly what he had explained to his dad.

Blaine tried to summarize what Kurt had said. "So, you think that if I start dating Rachel exclusively, that people we meet will believe that I'm straight and therefore include me and Rachel socially in ways that would not happen if I were bisexual and dating a guy exclusively."

"It's not a matter of me believing that. It's a matter of fact. You can pass for straight as it is. As I said, that was one of the things that made me admire you more. You were willing to risk being rejected for who you were. You didn't hide when you easily could have."

"I think I get it. Bisexual teens that choose an opposite gender partner fit into the straight world where gay teens are excluded. And that makes it seem like the bisexual teen is back in the closet."

"Pretty much. I'm not denying that bisexuals exist or that their sexual orientation isn't valid. I just meant that a bisexual person who chooses a same gender partner would be ostracized as if they were gay, but if the bisexual person chooses an opposite gender partner it's as if they can hide their LGBT status and be 'normal'. Does that make more sense? I was angry and upset and did a terrible job explaining what I meant yesterday."

"Yeah, that makes more sense. We've been friends long enough that I should have tried to listen to how you felt about all of it."

"You also ditched me 30 minutes from my house and an hour from school. I know you were excited about your date with Rachel and you obviously rushed home to change into the appropriate attire to watch _Love Story_ in, but I had to get Finn to drive 30 minutes to pick me up and then my dad had to drive me an hour and a half this morning because I couldn't manage to ride in the car with him that long last night after the lecture I got about MY inappropriate behavior for letting you sleep off your drunkenness in my bed Saturday night."

"Oh. I didn't know you'd get in trouble."

"Yeah, well, neither did I. So, needless to say, you can't spend the night at my house anymore."

"Okay."

Kurt couldn't believe that the only thing Blaine had to say was "okay", not "I'm sorry" about any of it.

Blaine asked, "So, are we still on for coffee after school today?"

"Yeah, Blaine. Sure. But this time, I'm driving or we can drive separately."

"Okay. I'll meet you at the coffee shop at 3:30."

Blaine picked his tray up and went back into the cafeteria.

Kurt just sat on the bench wondering how Blaine could sit there and listen to his apology, then learn that Kurt had gotten in trouble for Blaine's drunken sleepover and not say a single work indicating that he was sorry about the things he had said or done. He compared what Kurt had said to him to the way Karofsky had reacted. Blaine knew that Karofsky had threatened to kill him to keep him quiet about his own sexuality, not because Kurt himself was gay. He didn't get an apology for that or even for the obvious, like ditching him at the coffee shop.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Rachel met Kurt at the coffee shop. They arrived before Blaine.

"You said he'd be here at 3:30?"

"Like clockwork - for his post-rehearsal medium drip."

"I just can't wait to lay one on him," Rachel said as she applied lip gloss.

"I've got a bad feeling about this, Rachel. I don't mean to be a scold, but I don't want you to get hurt either. There's no victory in this for me either way."

"Who cares about you, buddy? I may get a new boyfriend out of this who can keep up with me vocally and in the future give me vaguely Eurasian-looking children."

Kurt was stunned, but kept his composure. "There he is - dreamy as ever."

"Okay. Wish me luck." Rachel got up and walked directly to Blaine, who had gotten in line to get his coffee.

"Hey, Rachel. What's going on?" he asked with a big smile on his face.

She didn't say anything. She grabbed him squarely by the shoulders and rose up on her toes and kissed him. The kiss started out chaste, but quickly started to build like it had the night at the party. Rachel ended the kiss, but pulled Blaine by the hand out of line and went outside and walked him around the back of the coffee shop where no one could see and pulled him back into a passionate kiss that lasted until they were out of breath and had to take a break for a minute.

"Wow," Blaine said.

"Definitely, wow," Rachel agreed.

"So..."

"So, Blaine, will you be my boyfriend?"

"I would be honored." He offered his hand and Rachel took it.

They walked back into the coffee shop and got in line.

"What would you like?" Blaine asked her.

"Oh, um. Some green tea. Thanks."

Neither one of them noticed that Kurt wasn't there anymore.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt left the coffee shop and drove back to Dalton. He waited at the cafeteria doors for it to open at 4:30 and grabbed an apple, a banana, a carton of milk, a bottle of juice and two sandwiches that he wrapped in napkins. He stuffed the food in his pockets and left the cafeteria to spend the evening in his room.

He had only been in his room long enough to change into his Dalton-issued sweats when his phone pinged with a text.

To Kurt: What the hell, dude?

He picked up his phone and responded.

From Kurt: ?

His phone rang. He answered.

"What the hell, Kurt?"

"Finn, I have no idea what you are talking about. What did I do?"

"She changed her Facebook status."

"Who?"

"Rachel."

"Oh. Why are you yelling at me?"

"If you hadn't brought him to her party, this would have never happened."

"You think I'm glad about this? Finn, I can't even talk about this with you." He hung up and turned his phone off.

He plopped down on his bed and thought about how he could take his mind off of things. He came up with nothing. He realized at that moment that he had done nothing to make any friends at Dalton. He didn't even have a roommate. He had allowed Blaine to be his whole life at Dalton.

Blaine had made himself Kurt's whole life was more like it. Blaine was always hanging around, gently touching his shoulder or arm. Always talking to him. Boy was he lousy at reading people or maybe Blaine's just a flirt. He was so outgoing, maybe he thought the way he behaved wasn't leading Kurt on.

Kurt didn't know what to think anymore. He decided to just eat the food he had brought back with him, do his homework as quickly as possible, take a shower and just go to sleep. Maybe a good night's sleep would help clear his head.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next day was a strange one for Kurt. He kept having the overwhelming sensation that he was being watched, but he could never actually see anyone watching him. At lunchtime, he opted for a hot meal since he had skipped out on eating anything much at dinner the night before. He found an empty spot at a table that was mostly hidden from view of the food line.

He sat and ate his meal in silence. He put his tray, plate and utensils away and left the cafeteria to study in the music room. He had a couple of other classes before Warblers rehearsal at 2:00, but it was a quiet place to read during lunch and it was almost always empty since the Warblers were the only ones allowed to use it during lunch.

He caught up on his French reading that he had fallen behind on Monday night because he didn't have the book with him when he ended up at home all night. The bell rang and he attended his last two classes then headed back to the music room for Warblers rehearsal.

He walked into the room and that overwhelming sensation returned. There was something going on. He decided to ignore it until he had a better idea of what "it" was.

David began talking. "So, we've been working on "Animal" and we've found a time and place where we can perform it for the Glee club at our sister school. The Crawford County Day girls will be meeting us in their old gym this afternoon at 4:30. We won't be rehearsing now since we'll be heading over there later. I don't want anyone to fall behind on their schoolwork because of an unplanned performance."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The Warblers carpooled over to the old gym and they rehearsed the vocals once, outside behind the building before going inside. The girls were already inside waiting for them.

Blaine stood in front of the line of girls and started talking. "As you know, the Warblers are competing in our show choir's Regionals Championship week after next. So, what we're going for today ladies, is something a little - a little sexy. But we need your input. Are we scream worthy? Do we make your knees turn to jelly? So, without further ado, hang on to your bobby socks, girls, 'cause we're about to rock your world."

The backup vocals started and the Warblers all took their places on the scaffolding that was set up. Blaine entered from the top and made his way down the left side weaving through the other Warblers. Kurt came in singing the second verse from the floor level on the right. They met in the middle and sang together. Kurt hadn't performed in such a provocative way since the New Directions performance of "Toxic". Kurt pulled out all of the stops and was full-on seductive and flirtatious. The girls were all dancing and cheering and clearly enjoying the performance.

After the song was over, Kurt was sitting on the scaffolding fixing his hair. He saw two girls approach Blaine and hand him their numbers.

"Sorry girls. I already have a girlfriend." They shrugged and walked off.

"Well, I can say you completely shocked me with your performance, Kurt. I wasn't expecting that."

"What were you expecting? Me to get up there and act like a wallflower?"

"Well, I don't know."

"Blaine, I'm a performer. I perform. This isn't my first sexy song rodeo. Get over it. I can be whatever is called for in a song or a play. That's the point of being a performer, isn't it?"

Kurt got up and walked out of the gym and opened the Navigator for the guys that had ridden over with him and they all climbed inside. He had nearly half of the Warblers in his Navigator since it could seat seven.

"Wow, Kurt. That was awesome. We should definitely keep use that number in our set list," Nick said.

"I think that and 'Raise Your Glass' will be good choices," Trent said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When they got back to Dalton, Thad hung back. "Kurt can I talk to you?"

"Sure, Thad."

"Let's walk this way." Thad led Kurt around the outside of the building to the entrance of the garden area on the west side of the school.

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, I wanted to know if you would go to the movies with me Friday evening."

"Sure," Kurt answered quickly and cheerfully. "Who else is going?"

"Um. No one. I meant as a date. Just you and me."

"Oh, okay. I'll go. What time?"

Thad sat down on stone wall. "Well," Thad pulled out his phone to look up show times. "Here's what's playing. Do any of those look interesting to you?"

Kurt sat down next to him to look at his phone. "I'm a sucker for animated movies. And I could use a good laugh. How about _Rango_?"

" _Rango_ it is. Show times are 4:45 and 7:00."

"Let's go at 4:45. It will be less crowded and we can get something to eat afterwards if you want. There's a good sub shop in town if you like subs. Or we can go wherever you like. I'm not a picky eater."

"I like subs. I actually just like food in general," he laughed.

"Me too. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Honestly I didn't know you liked guys, so I would have never been the one to ask you. But why did you ask me now?"

"To be honest, I thought you and Blaine were dating. I thought the GAP Attack was some sort of flash of insanity and that maybe you had broken up with him and he was doing the rebound thing in a major way. But then even afterwards, he was always hanging around wherever you were. I thought maybe he had apologized and you took him back? He was always being just below the radar flirty with you. I thought you had some issue with PDA or something, so he kept it on the DL."

"Oh. Well, I'm not big on making out in public, but that's more of a self-preservation issue."

Thad looked at him questioningly.

"In Lima, where I'm from, two guys making out in public would get their butts kicked. It's not exactly a gay-friendly place."

"Oh. I've never been there. My parents travel a lot and my grandfather went to school here, so they decided that if it was good enough for him, it was good enough for me. I've been here for two and a half years."

"Where do your parents live?"

"Right now, they're in Germany."

"Two and a half years. So, you're a junior."

"Yes. And you are too, right?"

"I am."

"I'm just going to be bold."

"Go for it."

"I like you. I've liked you since you got here. You're funny and smart and talented. I think we could go out and have fun together. Are you interested in just casually dating? For a while? I'm not trying to get you into bed. I'm not asking for a lifelong commitment. I can understand if you're not interested."

"No, actually it sounds fun. We'll just see how things go. If there's no spark, we can just hang out and go out and do things as friends. I could use some friends. From the overwhelming feeling I've had all day today, I'm betting that you weren't the only person that thought that Blaine and I were dating."

"Well, I can answer that for you. All of the Warblers thought you two were dating. I don't know about the rest of the school, but I wouldn't be surprised if pretty much everyone who knows you, thinks you were dating Blaine, especially since very few of them would have any knowledge of the GAP Attack."

"Great, just great. So, does everyone think he dumped me? I broke up with him? What's the gossip going around?"

"People are trying to figure it out. You've been less than your cheerful self last few days and he's been quite animated. So, the consensus has been that he broke up with you since he's the one that publicly updated his Facebook page to 'in a relationship with'..."

"Rachel."

"Right, Rachel. He put his relationship with Rachel out for public view, so most of the guys think he broke up with you to date her. You know about it at least."

"Oh, I know. My stepbrother called and yelled at me about it. Rachel is his ex-girlfriend, whom he still has feelings for. According to him, it's all my fault that Blaine and Rachel met, so he's mad at me."

Thad looked like he wanted to ask a question, but restrained himself.

"Rachel had a party over the weekend. I invited Blaine to go. They made out during Spin the Bottle and she declared him to be her new duet partner. They went out on a date Monday and became official on Tuesday - yesterday."

"I see."

"So, that's the whole story. Oh, except the part where Blaine and I have not been dating at all, ever. I've actually never dated anyone. Before I met Blaine, I was the only gay guy I knew."

"Well, you and Blaine are not the only gay Warblers."

"I wouldn't know. I don't ask people questions like that and you're the first in four months here to say anything to indicate that you like guys."

"Just to clarify, I'm gay."

Kurt was starting to shiver. "Okay. I'm all for talking more if you want, but I'm getting really cold out here. You can come to my room. I don't have a roommate. If you have homework, you can bring it and do it on the empty bed or desk in my room."

"Sure. I'll go grab my stuff."

"385."

"Got it."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next day at lunch, Blaine looked until he found Kurt and sat his tray down on the table next to him and sat down.

"Hello, Blaine. To what do I owe the honor of your presence?"

"Um. I just wanted to eat lunch with you. Is there something wrong with that?"

Just then, Thad walked up and put his tray down and sat on the other side of Kurt.

"Hey, Blaine."

"Thad," Blaine said cooly.

"Is there a problem, Blaine?" Kurt asked.

Blaine just looked at Thad. "Um. No, no problem. I didn't know you two were friends is all."

"Well, actually it turns out that I realized Tuesday that I didn't actually have any friends here at Dalton, except you. Do you know what else I found out?"

"What's that?"

"That everyone in this school that knows who I am thought that you were my boyfriend and that you dumped me over the weekend and started dating Rachel."

"What?"

Thad spoke up. "Blaine, you have monopolized Kurt's time since the day he got here. You asked him to sing with you. The two of you went out to coffee like three times a week. You've been to his house, met his parents, went as his guest to his friend's party, you're always putting your hand on his shoulder and standing right next to him. What on earth did you think people thought?"

"Oh, wow. I was just trying to make him feel welcome here. He didn't know anyone."

"Well, monopolizing his time and making everyone think you were his boyfriend didn't help him get to know people."

"I can see how that could be true. But I didn't do it intentionally."

"Intentional, unintentional. Same outcome," Thad stated emphatically.

"Anyway," Kurt interjected. "Thad and I are having lunch together. I'm going to look into joining some clubs if there are any still accepting new members this late in the year. I'm going to get to know other people as well. I was never a damsel in distress. I didn't need rescued. I thought you cared. I thought the same thing that everyone else though. I thought you liked me. I told you that back in February when I told you that I liked you. You didn't tell me explicitly that you were not interested in me romantically. You just said that you were bad at romance and didn't want to mess things up between us. So, I thought that meant that you were interested, but didn't really know how to go about moving from friends to more than friends. I was giving you time to figure it out. Then you kissed Rachel and boom - she's your girlfriend three days later. So, clearly you don't have the same reservations about being bad at romance when Rachel's involved. It's fine. Romance Rachel. But please stop being an overprotective ninny. I'm not in need of pity friendships."

"Kurt..."

"Don't use that tone with me. We may be able to be friends. That's yet to be determined. I thought we were real friends, but that hasn't been the case because real friends are honest with each other. When you can stop acting like your actions don't affect other people and you can treat me like an equal, we might be able to become friends. Now, I hate to seem impolite, but I really have nothing else to say to you at the moment and I had planned on having lunch with Thad. If you wouldn't mind moving to another table, I would appreciate it."

Blaine was dumbstruck, but he stood up and walked across the cafeteria to sit somewhere else.

"That was hot," That said.

Kurt furled his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side.

"Oh, not if it were directed at me, of course. But damn, that was the most polite epic smack down I have ever been privileged to witness."

"It's an art form," Kurt said faking arrogance and tilting his head up and to the side.

"I can see that," Thad laughed and Kurt joined in.

"I have a question for you."

"What's that?"

"So, you asked me about going to the movie tomorrow."

"Right."

"Technically, I'm supposed to go home on Friday evenings to have 'Family Dinner' and then stay the night and at least part of Saturday. I had forgotten about not being able to go NEXT Friday night because of Regionals. And skipping two weeks in a row is a bad idea. So, I'm offering a trade. We go to the movie and dinner tonight and tomorrow you come to Lima with me. You can sleep in the family room downstairs on the couch. It's comfortable. And Saturday morning, after breakfast, we can do homework and then for lunch I'll take you to this great place I found between here and Lima on the way back to school."

"Deal. But don't forget that we have to be back here by 2:00 for the extra Warblers rehearsal for Regionals."

"I didn't forget, but thanks for reminding me anyway. So, we'll leave after Warblers practice tomorrow. Bring pajamas and two changes of clothes. We can change when we get to my house."

"Today - my car or yours?"

"Yours since we'll take mine tomorrow."

"Good deal. I'll pull up by the front stairs at 4:15 since you don't know what my car looks like yet."

"Sounds good."

They put all of their lunch stuff away and headed off to their afternoon classes.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

That afternoon, all of the Warblers, except Blaine, were in the music room. Some were sitting around chatting quietly, while others were sitting at tables working on assignments. Blaine burst through the doors and tossed the pile of sheet music pages he had in his hands up in the air as he started singing "Misery". Everyone jumped in quickly and started singing their parts. Kurt was agitated because Blaine was showboating again. There was no need to toss papers everywhere. Plus, he walked directly over to Kurt like he usually did and put his hands on Kurt's shoulders on their way out into the hallway for an impromptu Warblers performance.

Kurt sat on a bench, interacted reluctantly, but did sing along most of the time. Thad ended up not far from the bench and saw Kurt's ambivalence toward their performance. After rehearsal, everyone left, but Kurt stayed behind to pick up all of the papers that were all over the floor and furniture.

Thad was waiting for him outside on the bench, but when Kurt didn't come out at the end of the mass exodus, he got up and went to look in the room to see if he had somehow missed Kurt leaving.

"Here, I'll help." Thad started picking up the sheets and stacking them.

"Thanks," Kurt said. "I don't even know what to do with them. I guess we can just put them on the shelf and if he asks where they are, we can tell him."

"Seems reasonable. You weren't really into it today. Is something wrong?"

"Oh, just the same old, same old, I guess. He came in here guns-a-blazing, putting his hands on me, leading me from behind. I guess I wasn't clear enough at lunch. He needs to keep his hands off. It gives everyone a mixed message. I don't want people thinking that I'm his boy toy or whatever. People thought we were dating because of that type of behavior and he has a girlfriend now. He needs to keep his hands off of me."

"I get it."

Kurt plopped down on one of the couches. "I'm a mess. Are you sure you want to date me?"

Thad sat in the middle of the couch and turned to face him. "Yeah. I mean I told you that I'm not looking to get engaged next week or something. I don't think we know each other well enough to know whether we are compatible like that or not. Maybe we are, maybe we aren't. I'd like to get to know you though. You can still make friends with other people. I'm not going to try to monopolize your life. I mean if a point comes when you really feel like you know me well enough to know that there's no way there could be anything romantic between us, I would hope you'd say so. I think you've had enough of being led on not to do it to another person."

"You're right. Completely right. I wouldn't do that to someone. Have you dated other people?"

"I've casually dated a few guys over the last couple of years, but we reached that point of realizing that we weren't well suited to move to a serious dating relationship. I'm still friends with them."

Kurt got up and walked over to the table where he had been sitting earlier and grabbed his stuff to leave the room. "Okay. So, I'll meet you out front at 4:15. I'm going to change. I don't want to go out to the movies and to dinner in my uniform."

"Me neither. See you in a little while."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad enjoyed the movie and their dinner at the sub shop. The next day passed without incident. Thad was packed and ready to leave after Warblers rehearsal. He and Kurt met at Kurt's Navigator and they left for Lima. They listened to some music and talked on the way.

"I need to tell you something before we get to my house."

"That sounds ominous."

"Well, I just want to be honest and up front with you. I told my dad that we are friends. I did not tell him that we are dating. While my dad is completely fine with me being gay, he is not completely fine with the fact that I'm 17. He still treats me like I'm 12 a lot of the time. Unless we decide that we are ready to move forward into a more serious dating scenario, you and I are just friends. Otherwise, my dad will go into hyper-over-protect mode. Life for me as a gay person has been very, very hard here in Lima. My dad is used to people trying to do awful things to me. I don't fault him for trying to protect me, but it's a lot overboard, but he's my dad and there's not really anything I can do about it."

"I get that. If you don't mind, what type of things are we talking about?"

"The football team nailed our lawn furniture to our roof spelling out FAG, with the additional help of several rolls of toilet paper strung between the chairs. The whole roof had to be replaced. The garage door has been spray painted too many times to remember. And those aren't the personal things done to me."

"Wow. I can see why he'd be overprotective. Not a problem for me."

"I also had to tell him that you're gay. He won't say anything to anyone else."

Thad looked confused.

"After Blaine ended up in my bed drunk last weekend, Dad insisted that I ask in advance if gay guys could spend the night."

"Got it."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Dinner went fine. The evening went smoothly. Thad turned out to be quite good at some of the video games that Finn liked to play. He was more patient at showing Kurt and by 9:00, Kurt was doing decently well at it. Puck showed up and walked in on the two of them playing.

"Why haven't you played with us before, dude?"

"None of you had the decency to teach me how to use the controllers," Kurt replied. "And you know I hate being called 'dude,'"

"How about princess? Oh high and mighty one."

"How about I kick you where it counts?"

Thad laughed.

"How about no thanks. I've seen you kick a football through the field goal from the 40 yard line."

Thad laughed more, then abruptly stopped and asked, "Wait, seriously? Are you going to play for Dalton next year? We could seriously use a decent kicker."

"I hadn't considered it. I don't even know if I'll be at Dalton next year."

Thad let it drop. He and Kurt went upstairs to the living room after Finn came down and commandeered the game console with Puck.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After breakfast, Burt headed off to the garage and Carole left to run errands. Finn wasn't up still.

Kurt took Thad upstairs to his room and let Thad use his bathroom to get ready for the day. He sat at the dining room table and got out his Trigonometry homework and was working through the assigned problems when Thad came back downstairs. He went the rest of the way downstairs and packed his pajamas in his backpack and brought his bags back up to the table.

They worked on schoolwork for a couple of hours. By 11:30, they had packed up and put their bags in the Navigator.

"So, where's this place we're going?"

"It's surprise," Kurt said and winked at him.

"Okay." Thad smiled and just leaned back to relax. "So, Finn. How long have you two been stepbrothers?"

"Since the weekend before I came to Dalton."

"So, you're not really used to living with him."

"Not really. We had to get the house we live in now because he refused to share a bedroom with me. And other than winter break and Friday nights, I mostly don't see him. And even then, he makes himself scarce after dinner and sleeps in until lunchtime on Saturdays. He's not a bad person. He's a product of his environment. I think if he moved somewhere else and was exposed to different people and realized that there are other types of people in the world, he could be different. But all he's ever known is small-town life. He doesn't really aspire to anything else though. So, I figure he'll be the one to take over my dad's business, even though he knows nothing about fixing cars."

"You do?"

"Sure. I've been hanging around a garage since I was eight. I can rebuild an engine. I can fix most anything. I used to work in the garage, but with going to school so far away, I don't have time to do it now. I worked there pretty much full time all last summer."

"That's really cool. I think you've been misrepresented and grossly underestimated by the Warblers. Not that your other interests aren't fine to have, but Blaine presented you as fairly..."

"Fairly what?"

"You won't like what I'm going to say. No threats to my person, please. I'm just the messenger."

Kurt laughed. "Puck knew I'd never hurt him. I've never fought back physically, even when he was tossing me in dumpsters."

"Wait, people tossed you in dumpsters? And your dad lets one of the ones who did it in your house?"

"Puck's reformed. He joined Glee last year and got his head on straight. He hasn't done anything mean to me in a year and a half. Finn used to help him do it. And now he's my stepbrother. More than likely the two of them were part of the crew that nailed the lawn furniture on the roof. They were both on the team at the time."

"Okay. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. These things people did that you talk about so nonchalantly are insane."

"We can talk about that more some other time. We've gotten way off topic. You were going to tell me how the guys at school see me."

"Right. You've been portrayed as rather feminine. Your interest in fashion, musicals, old movies, Broadway, etc. have been expounded upon. The fact that you're a countertenor with a female range that could help us in competition. Things like that. Nothing about your rebuilding engines or playing football."

"I see. So, I was Blaine's 'girlfriend'. Great. But I guess that explains my lack of invitations to the movie nights you told me have been happening all year that I was never invited to."

"Blaine said you didn't like action movies."

"I don't like horror movies, but I like action movies just fine as long as there's a plot. I'm not big on movies that basically center around two or more factions of people just killing each other as mercilessly as possible just for the sake of eradicating the other groups."

"Fair point."

"Okay, we're here."

Kurt pulled in a parking spot and he and Thad got out of the truck and went inside. They waited to be seated.

Thad looked the menu over. "Is the food as good as the pictures look?"

"Definitely. I'd order us an appetizer because they're really good, but we'd have to split an entrée. The portions here are huge. So, your choice. We can order the sampler appetizer if you want to try a bunch of different things and we can split an entree or we can order two entrees."

"Hmm. Do you like lasagna?"

"Sure. Wanna split that and the appetizer combo?"

"That sounds good to me."

They continued talking and getting to know each other while they ate.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They made it back to Dalton with fifteen minutes to spare, giving them both time to get into their uniforms and down to the music room for rehearsal. They ran through all of their numbers twice before rehearsal finished.

The uneasy feeling was still palpable in the air. Kurt wondered what he could do to change the situation. He overheard Blaine talking about heading to Lima for a date with Rachel. An idea popped into Kurt's mind. Once Blaine left the room, he moved to Thad's side and got his attention discretely.

"Invite whoever you think is mostly likely to come to play video games and watch movies with us tonight while Blaine is gone."

"Good idea."

Thad went around the room and invited people, saying that anyone was welcome to come to the lounge on the third floor of the dorm.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad hooked up Nick's gaming system and brought several movies and laid them out on the top of the TV stand. Everyone brought snacks to share and Thad had gone out before dinner and bought several multi-packs of a variety of sodas.

By 6:30, most of the Warblers had shown up. Kurt brought some card games and put them out on the table. He sat down seeing if anyone would join him. He was pretty much ignored. Thad went to sit with him.

"Okay. So, they're here. Now, what?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. They came because you invited them. They don't know this was my idea."

"I have an idea." Thad raised his voice to be heard over the group. "Everyone sit down in a circle in front of the couches."

The guys paused the game and everyone sat down.

"So, we're going to play Two Truths, One Lie as our party opener tonight."

They started and went around the circle. Kurt couldn't guess most of the time because he honestly didn't know the other guys well enough to have any clue which thing they were lying about. Then it was his turn.

"I can rebuild a car engine. I can do a round-off back handspring. Blaine used to be my boyfriend."

Lots of the guys guessed the first two as being the lies, but they couldn't come to a consensus. Kurt finally intervened.

"The first two are true. The third is the lie."

"What?" he heard from several places around the circle.

"My dad owns Hummel Tire and Lube in Lima. I've worked as a mechanic since I was 16. I was a Cheerio at McKinley last year. Look it up on YouTube if you don't believe me. I sang a 14-minute Celine Dion medley in French and we won the National Championship. I have never, ever dated Blaine."

Richard pulled out his phone. He pulled up Burt's shop's website. There was a picture of Kurt in his coveralls in the staff photo. Flint pulled out his phone and searched YouTube for the footage from the cheerleading championships the previous spring.

"He's not lying about the first two," Trent said looking over the other two Warbler's shoulders. Richard turned his phone around so everyone could see Kurt in the shop photo. Flint turned his phone around and played the video of Kurt singing.

"You can stop the video. It's really long. They get the idea," Kurt said.

Trent asked, "So, you and Blaine weren't dating?"

"Nope."

"I thought you were dating until the whole GAP Attack, then he suddenly talked about Jeremiah. But when he turned him down, I thought for sure Blaine had gotten his act together and asked you out after that," Jeff said.

"Nope."

"Lets keep playing. Luke, you're next," Kurt said.

The game went all the way around the room and came back to Kurt.

"I have over a three octave range. I was on the McKinley football team last year. I can play the guitar."

This time, they came to a consensus quickly. "You didn't play football."

"Wrong again. I was the kicker. I won the only game the whole season."

"Do you really have a three octave range?" John asked.

"Yes. Nearly three and a half."

"Not counting falsetto."

"Nope, not falsetto. I'm a lyric countertenor. I can sing soprano in full head voice, no falsetto."

Trent asked, "Why haven't you come to our other parties this year?"

"I didn't know about the other parties." Kurt asked sincerely.

"You didn't know?"

"Nope."

"Well, I will apologize on my own behalf for not making sure that you knew about them. I'm sorry I didn't tell you myself," Trent said. "I just thought you didn't like to horse around and what not. You're always so put together and serious."

"Force of habit. I've survived this long by staying in control and monitoring my surroundings constantly. Even though I know that I don't have to do that here, old habits die hard. And honestly, none of you has been overly friendly to me. You've all been fairly standoffish. I couldn't figure out what I had done, but I just figured there were some unwritten rules that I consistently broke. I had too much schoolwork to do to constantly try to figure out what I had done. So, I gave up trying and just focused on learning. The classes here are much more advanced than my old school. I had a lot of catching up to do in the fall. It's not bad now because I started out on even footing at the beginning of this semester."

"Why did you come here?" Kurt heard someone ask, but he didn't see who.

"What do you all know about why I came?"

He heard someone say, "Blaine said you were bullied. That's generally the only reason people show up so late in the semester. But we don't really know. Maybe your parents moved here from out of the country and Dalton is the only prep school in the area to offer an IB program so that you could go back to Europe and finish school there. Basically, no one knows."

"I am an unwelcome anathema in the public school system where I grew up. My mere presence was enough to incite constant violence against me. 90% was verbal bullying, but the other 10% was quite physical. David and Wes know that I had come to spy on you guys before Sectionals. I'm sure some of the rest of you saw me there. Our Glee club was having a boys vs girls sing off and the assignment was to sing and perform as opposite of the expected as possible. I thought it would finally be my chance to shine. I'm the only one that can sing in a female range. Instead, my ideas were shot down and one of the guys said my time would be better spent spying on you guys. Things were already really, really bad for me. When people I thought were my friends sent me away, I was hurt. I drove over here less to spy and more to see what it was like here. The website talked about the No Bullying policy. I came, I spied, I got caught. Then, I went back to school. I didn't even actually tell any of the guys that I had come here. After that, I took some advice I was given and I confronted my main tormentor. It was a stupid idea. I should have never confronted him alone. The outcome was that he threatened to kill me. He was expelled, but reinstated a few days later. I couldn't stay. I came here a few days later."

Trent spoke up again, visibly upset by Kurt's story. "So, you were ostracized by pretty much everyone at your old school and you came here for a 'No Bullying' environment to get away from someone who threatened to kill you and none of us have reached out to you in four months."

"That pretty much sums it up. But before you all start feeling bad, I'm not angry with any of you. The fact that none of you have done anything mean to me in four months is priceless. Being allowed to exist in peace is a gift. You can't know how amazing it's been to walk down the halls and NEVER have anyone do anything to hurt me. None of you have even done small things like call me names. Not getting invited to something I didn't know was happening - think about that - I didn't know I wasn't being invited. There was nothing for me to be upset about. You let me join the Warblers. You have all been decent to me."

Jeff spoke up. "We were all still in the wrong. Whether you knew or not, we should have found out why you never came."

"Water under the bridge. Someone pick a movie. If no one likes any of the ones on the TV, someone can go get something else from their room," Kurt said.

Nick took charge of the DVD choice. Thad pointed out that there were drinks in the fridge in the kitchen. People started opening the bags of snacks they brought and putting them on the coffee table.

Kurt saw Thad pick a spot on one of the couches and he caught Kurt's attention and patted the spot next to him. Kurt smiled and went to sit between Thad and the arm of the couch. Once a movie was finally chosen, the lights were turned off and the movie started. Thad turned his hand palm up and offered it to Kurt, who shyly reached over and put his hand over the top. Thad closed his fingers around Kurt's hand and squeezed gently.

He leaned over gently and whispered, "That was really brave of you to tell everyone what had happened to you. I had no idea."

Kurt nodded.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After that night, the dynamic in the group changed. Kurt was no longer an outsider. The next day at rehearsal that palpable weirdness he had been feeling was just gone.

The next week passed with Kurt attending his classes, Warbler practice and spending time with Thad alone and also with some of the other guys just doing things like watching movies in the lounge on their floor where they had held the party the previous weekend.

The French Club allowed him to join, so he enjoyed getting to practice his French outside class.

One night, Kurt baked cookies for everyone. He was finally feeling like he wasn't on the outside anymore. It was a great feeling.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The Saturday before Regionals they rehearsed all of their pieces three times each - this time with the music teacher, Mr. Browning, listening in. The Warblers were a student-led group, but Dalton offered music classes and they always asked the music teacher to listen in the week before they competed to have an outside opinion on what they needed to work on.

Mr. Browning gave them pointers and they each noted the suggestions if it pertained to their own part. By the time they made it through the third repetition, they had corrected the problematic areas and they were released from rehearsal. They thanked Mr. Browning and they headed out.

Thad caught up with Kurt. "Hey, it's actually nice out today. Wanna go for a walk out in the woods behind the school?"

"Sure. Just meet me in my room in ten minutes. I want to change my clothes and get my coat."

Thad knocked on Kurt's door and he opened it to let him in. "You were quick. I don't have my coat on yet. It took me a few minutes to get my boots laced."

Thad looked down and then up. Kurt was wearing his tall Doc Martin "bitch boots" and skinny black jeans with a black turtleneck and a blue and black sweater over the top. He had a black peacoat laid out to wear.

"You look great."

Kurt blushed. "Thanks."

Thad picked Kurt's coat up off the bed and handed it to him, but didn't offer to put it on him like he was a girl, which Kurt appreciated. Thad had actually never done anything that made Kurt feel like he was "the girl".

"Ready?"

Kurt checked his pockets for gloves, just in case his hands got cold. He found them. He slipped his phone into his interior coat pocket.

"Yep. Ready."

They walked out the back of the building and out to the woods. Some of the trees were starting to get small leaves budding on them.

"I bet it's beautiful here in the spring," Kurt said.

"You notice the beauty everything, don't you?"

"I try."

"Is it okay if I hold your hand?"

Kurt reached out and offered his hand and Thad took it and smiled. They walked for a while on a path. They mostly walked in silence, but each of them pointed out things they saw along the way, a bird, a rabbit, early flowers blooming, and even a turtle. Eventually the path led to a small clearing with a stone bench. They sat down. Thad didn't let go of Kurt's hand.

"I know I asked you about casually dating and it's only been a week and a half, but can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"You're pretty tense. Are you uncomfortable holding my hand? Am I pushing you?"

"No, I don't feel like you're pushing me. I'm honestly not used to anyone touching me. Growing up with 'gay cooties' pretty much eliminated all sources of benevolent touches from my life. I actually like it that you want to hold my hand. I just have to get over my knee-jerk reaction to freeze up when I come in contact with someone."

"Wow, those jerks really did a number on you, didn't they?"

"You could say that."

"How about this? In light of your unpleasant history with being touched, and my lack of knowledge of the details - which I do not expect you to tell me until you're ready to, if you ever want to - if I do anything, anything at all, that makes you uncomfortable, you just tell me and I won't be offended at all."

"That sounds really great. You're not ready to turn tail and run because I'm so messed up?"

"I don't think you're 'messed up'. I think you've been treated quite poorly and have a lot of reasonable built-up fears because of that. But, I don't give up that easy. I really like you. The more time we've spent together, that's just become more evident to me."

Kurt blushed.

"I'm not a mind reader, but I would venture to guess that you like me too, or you wouldn't blush like that."

"I do. I do like you." His blush deepened.

"Good. That makes me able to ask my next question. This isn't a request to move past holding hands or whatever you're comfortable with, but I wanted to ask if you'd be interested in us dating exclusively, meaning that we won't date other people. I'm not asking you to not have friends. I just want you to be my boyfriend."

"Really? Even knowing that I'm so uptight."

"Yes, really. Automatic reactions like flinching can fade with time. I think the more positive input you get, the more those negative auto-reactions will fade. If holding hands with me makes you feel the way it makes me feel, then I think you'll start enjoying being touched."

Kurt smiled and nodded his head. "I'm sure you're right." He squeezed Thad's hand.

"You didn't answer my question. It's okay if you want to say 'no' and keep things the way they are between the two of us."

"Yes. I'll be your boyfriend."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Thad pulled Kurt's hand up to his lips and gently kissed his knuckles.

They just sat for a while, holding hands and looking out into the woods.

Kurt was the first to speak again. "I think if you keep the touches where I can see that it's you, there won't be a problem. We can test my hypothesis, if you want."

"Test it?"

"Yeah. Stand up and hug me. I'm pretty sure that I won't flinch if I know it's you. If you don't want to hug me, that's okay. I'm not trying to force you."

"You're not. I'd like to."

They stood up. They were pretty close in height, with Kurt being just slightly taller. Kurt relaxed his stance and Thad stepped toward him and tried to put his arms around Kurt's shoulders. Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad's torso. It was pretty difficult to do with both of them wearing pea coats.

Kurt started laughing. "Our coats are not cooperating. It's nearly 50 out here, we won't freeze in five minutes. Let's take our coats off and try again." They laid their coats on the bench and Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and Kurt put his arms back around Thad's torso.

"Much better," Kurt said. He could smell Thad's cologne or something. It took a minute or so and Kurt relaxed into Thad's embrace. Thad smiled when he felt Kurt relax.

Thad didn't let go. "So, what's your conclusion to our scientific experiment?"

"That hugging is really nice. I've never really hugged anyone like this."

"I agree. I enjoy hugging."

Kurt decided to venture into the unknown and be bold. "Would it be okay if I kissed you?"

"Definitely."

Thad lifted his head from where they had been standing cheek to cheek in the hug. He looked into Kurt's eyes and waited for Kurt to lean forward and initiate the kiss. The kiss was very gentle and slightly hesitant, but sent heat shooting through both of their bodies. Kurt pulled back a bit, waiting for Thad to open his eyes.

"Okay?" Kurt asked.

"More than okay."

Thad leaned forward and reconnected their lips, still gentle and chaste. Once they both moved past the awkward moment of it being so new, they both relaxed. Kurt parted his lips slightly and brushed his tongue slightly against Thad's lower lip. Thad followed Kurt's lead and within a few minutes they were kissing quite passionately. They paused for air and just stood holding each other.

"That was amazing," Thad said.

"I agree," Kurt said still slightly out of breath. "I've never kissed anyone that I liked before. It's amazing, like you said. You said you dated guys before, though. So, I assume you've kissed other guys."

"Not like that," he laughed. "Maybe it's like you said, I never liked any of them the way I like you and that makes the difference. Plus, none of that kissing ever involved more than our lips. That's why those guys and I are friends and we never made it past the friends point. Definite lack of spark."

Kurt leaned in and kissed Thad again. Thad responded eagerly. When they came up for air, Kurt said, "Well, I don't think lack of spark is a problem. Refraining from kissing you all the time seems like more of an issue." He laughed and went back to kissing.

Thad felt Kurt shiver a bit. He pulled back. "Put your coat back on. We can kiss with our coats on somehow, I'm sure."

They both picked their coats up off the bench and put them on. Kurt checked his phone for the time.

"We should probably head back if we're going to eat dinner in the cafeteria. It's only open for another hour since it's Saturday."

"Or we could go out somewhere."

"We could." Kurt stepped toward him and slipped his arms inside Thad's unbuttoned coat. Thad followed Kurt's lead and instead of trying to put his arms around Kurt's neck, he just wrapped them around Kurt's torso. Kurt leaned forward and kissed him again.

"We could go pick something up and eat it in your room and watch a movie."

"I like that idea the best. Chinese?" Kurt asked.

"Sounds good." They kissed again before letting go of each other.

Kurt offered his hand and Thad took it. Kurt interlaced their fingers. They slowly made their way back through the woods, still talking and pointing out things on their way. They got to the parking lot and Kurt walked them toward his Navigator.

"I only know one Chinese place in town and it's decent, but I'm open to trying other places if you know of one."

"Actually, I don't. So, let's just go to the one you know about. We can start a search of places to try and make a list and explore if you want."

"That's a good idea."


	2. Chapter 2

"I'll take the bags to my room. Why don't you go put your coat up and change into something regulation and then come to my room?" Kurt suggested.

"I'll be quick."

Less than ten minutes later, Thad arrived in Dalton regulation sweats. Kurt was in his as well. Kurt opened the door and let him in. Kurt had put a blanket on the floor and put the food out on a small wooden tray with legs for a makeshift indoor picnic table.

Thad slipped his shoes off, put the extra pillows he had brought on Kurt's bed, and sat down on the floor with Kurt. They ate and talked. Once they were finished, Kurt took the boxes into the bathroom and rinsed them before throwing them in the trash in his room.

"Why did you rinse the trash?"

"Ah, old habit I guess. My room was in the basement in our old house and I didn't always feel like going upstairs to toss things in the kitchen garbage. My dad always said to never put anything that had any food remnants into my bedroom trash. He said it would draw bugs. So, I just always took whatever it was into my bathroom and rinsed it. As a kid I envisioned invasions a la _Bug's Life_." He laughed.

"That's funny."

"It is now. Not so much when you're 8 or 9 and have a vivid imagination."

"I can imagine. So, what movie do you want to watch?"

"Well, I don't actually have many DVDs here, but I can access Netflix and Amazon. You can see what I have there," he said as he pointed to his bookshelf.

"Let's just look at Netflix and Amazon to see if there's anything new."

"So, how do you want to do this?"

"How do you usually do it?"

"I lie in my bed and put the laptop on my lap or on the tray we had the food on."

"Well, I brought my pillows. Let's see if we can get comfortable with the pillows I brought and the ones from your bed and the extra bed." Thad piled all of the pillows together at the top of Kurt's bed and climbed in and leaned back. "Grab your laptop, the tray and turn the light off and let's see if it works."

After some shifting and a little wiggling and squirming, then got themselves snuggled up against each other leaned up against the pillows, with the tray over one leg each in the middle of them. Kurt started up Amazon.

"What about _Downton Abbey_? Do you like period dramas?"

"Have you watched all of it already?"

"No, just a couple of episodes. But it's really good. I'll rewatch the first one to see if you like it."

"Okay. I don't really know anything about it."

Kurt started the episode. As soon as the first episode ended, Thad reached up and started the second one.

"So you like it?"

"I think so. It's interesting."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

An hour later the second episode had ended. They were getting a little uncomfortable sitting in the exact position they were in for so long. Kurt reached up and powered the laptop down. They were in the dark, with just some faint light coming in under the curtain from a distant outdoor light somewhere.

"Do you want to stay for a while or do you need to go back to your room?"

"I don't need to go back."

Kurt sat up and shut the laptop lid. He slid the tray down far enough that he could get out of bed. He folded the legs up and put it on the extra bed. He turned back around and got back into bed with Thad.

"How about some music?" He handed Thad his iPod from his side table. "You pick."

Thad choose some instrumental jazz music. Kurt got up to stick the iPod back in its speaker dock and the music started to play. He turned it down enough that they could easily talk over the music if they wanted to.

Thad got up before Kurt had a chance to sit back down.

"Is something wrong? Did you change your mind and want to go back to your room?"

"No, I just wanted to see if you'd like to dance with me."

"Sure, but I've never slow danced before. Well, with a guy. I danced with girls at my dad's wedding."

"Me neither. I'm sure we can figure it out."

Thad put his hands on Kurt's shoulders and Kurt put his hands on Thad's waist. They just swayed back and forth with the music. Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck, pulling them closer together. Kurt moved his hands to hold Thad closer as well. They continued to just move slowly in time with the music. Thad pulled back a bit turning them just enough that he could barely make out Kurt's face in the dim light. He leaned forward and kissed him. Their slow dance went from hugging and moving to the music to kissing and swaying with the music.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt slowed their kissing down and pulled back and said, "It's close to curfew. Do you need to go back to your room for the RA's room check?"

"No. Sinclair doesn't care if we're in our own rooms. He only cares that were here on the floor. He just goes from one end of the hall to the other and anyone he doesn't find on the floor somewhere gets written up for missing curfew. So, when he knocks on your door and finds me in here, he'll just check my name off."

"Good deal. Let's sit down and talk until he comes." They pushed the pillows back against the headboard and got comfortable. "I have some questions for you. Do people know you're gay? I mean is it going to be a problem if people know that we're dating?"

"If you're asking if I'm okay with people knowing, definitely. When I asked you this afternoon if you'd be my boyfriend, I didn't mean secret boyfriend or something."

"I know that some people have to keep things hidden or they get disowned or lose their inheritance. I didn't want to accidentally do something that would hurt you."

Thad took his hand. "I wouldn't do that to someone. If my parents were like that, I would just not date anyone until I was old enough to collect my trust fund or whatever, and then live on my own. I'm glad you said yes. I'm not ashamed that I like you."

"Me neither. Are there rules, written or unwritten, around here about couples?"

"No making out in the classrooms. Dalton never updated their "no girls overnight" rules to reflect same-sex couples. So, as far as I know, there is no rule that prevents a couple from sleeping in the same dorm room. I suppose if their activities get loud enough to disturb their neighbors and they get reported, someone could get banned from someone else's room. But I've never seen that happen. The RAs really tend to look the other way about most of the rules as long as whatever is going on isn't actually dangerous like burning trash or something crazy."

"So, you sleeping in here wouldn't get you in trouble?"

"Nope. Is that an invitation?"

"It might be," Kurt teased. He leaned over and kissed Thad. "I don't want you staying to somehow affect how everyone sees you or me. I guess I'm afraid of being given some type of 'easy' rep. I think it may come back to the that all of the guys in Lima seem to think that all gay men want is sex. They all acted like I was some sort of molester and they were next on my list. When, honestly, I wouldn't touch any of them of my own free will, ever."

"So, you don't want the other gay guys here at school to see you as some sort of easy mark since everyone thought you were dating Blaine, even though you weren't, and now you're dating me."

"Right. I don't want people to act like you're my rebound and I'm just getting my kicks by sleeping with you since I don't have Blaine anymore. And I don't want the other gay guys to come at me like I'm fresh meat because I switched partners so quickly - in their eyes."

"I don't really care what any of them think. So, if it's my reputation you're worried about - don't. If anyone starts anything, I'll go to the administration for bullying. Slut-shaming is a form of bullying. Now, if you're worried about your physical safety, I think that's not a big issue here. No one's been attacked like that in this school, ever, to my knowledge. If you're worried about guys propositioning you, that may happen anyway. I am not the only gay guy here that thinks you're hot. Even if we never spent five more minutes together, it's likely that some of them will approach you in the next week as news of your so-called split with Blaine makes its rounds. Just say no. If they bother you, tell them that sexual harassment falls under the 'No Bullying' policy and they need to stop asking since they already got an answer. Most of the guys that go to school here are very invested in staying in school here. For most of these guys, doing well in prep school is the first step on the ladder to collecting their trust funds. Getting expelled is the fastest way to make sure they don't see their trust funds until they're like 30."

"I see."

"My parents know I'm gay. They don't care. That sounded bad. They do care about me. It doesn't bother them that I'm gay. I don't honestly think that anyone who goes to school here has any way of contacting my parents anyway, but even if they did, it wouldn't matter. I'm 17, you're 17. No one is underage. My trust fund is not being withheld from me unless I end up in jail. My parents aren't like that."

"Okay. Then, yes, I'm inviting you to stay."

"I accept your invitation."

Just then there was a light knock on the door. Kurt got up and Thad stood up as well. Kurt answered the door.

"Good evening, Sinclair," Kurt said.

"Hey, Kurt. Josh said that Thad's down here." Kurt pushed the door all the way back.

"Yep, I'm here," Thad said as he stepped close enough that Sinclair could see him.

"See ya." Sinclair said as he checked both of their names off his list and walked off.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I usually shower before bed. So, I'm going to go do that." Kurt turned to his dresser and pulled out his pajamas. "I'll be right back." Thad just lay on the empty bed until Kurt came back.

"Do you want to shower too? You can use my stuff." He opened his dresser and pulled out another pair of pajama pants and an undershirt and handed them to Thad.

"Thanks."

When Thad came back out, Kurt had moved most of the extra pillows onto the other bed and had pulled back the covers on his own bed. He was lying so that there was room in the bed for Thad. Thad looked at him like he was a little hesitant.

"Did I do something wrong?" Kurt asked.

"No. I've just never done this before."

"Me neither. If we can't get comfortable, there's always the empty bed you can sleep in instead."

Thad walked over to the empty desk and laid his sweats on the back of the chair. He turned and clicked the desk light off and got into bed with Kurt. He lay facing him. Kurt reached for his hand and put it on his side and then put his hand on the side of Thad's neck and ran his thumb down Thad's jawline.

Kurt continued the motion with his thumb and used his hand to gently pull Thad toward him and kissed him gently. "I don't think we can sleep facing each other unless we intertwine our legs or something. We can do that or one of us can turn over and be the little spoon."

"I say we stick with the kissing for a little bit and then I'll turn over since you're against the wall."

"Sounds good to me," Kurt said.

A few minutes later, Thad turned over, but left space between the two of them.

"Can I hold you?"

"Yeah, I'd like that." He scooted back so that his back was pressed against Kurt's chest. Kurt slipped his arm under Thad's and placed his hand flat against his chest. Thad wrapped his hand around Kurt's and held it.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The two of them spent Sunday together as well. The next several days were filled with schoolwork and extra Warblers rehearsals in the evenings. They had recorded their vocals and spent the evening practices perfecting their dancing. In previous years, they had done mostly a lot of shuffle steps and simple, but very precise unison movements. But they realized at Sectionals that they would have to be better dancers to have a chance at winning Regionals.

Kurt and Thad didn't hide their relationship, but didn't flaunt it during the rehearsals. They decided that they'd keep everything on an even keel and on the down low for a few days to ensure a harmonious group for the competition.

They performed spectacularly at Regionals, but lost to the New Directions. They read the judges' comment cards and found that it was purely because the New Directions had written original songs, which should not have played a part in who was chosen as the winner. The competition was a performance competition, not a song writing competition.

But a week later, a letter came and Wes read it out loud to the group. It was an invitation to submit the recording of their Regionals performance for the remaining wild card slot in a national a cappella competition in New York in early May. They entered electronically and were offered a slot the next week.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"So, we're going to New York?" Richard asked.

"Well, technically, we need to take a vote," Wes said. "All those in favor, raise your right hand."

There was no need to do anything else. Everyone in the group had raised their hands.

"Motion carried. We will start planning the trip as soon as the headmaster provides us a budget, which shouldn't take long since there was probably a preliminary budget made for the possibility of us winning Regionals. We'll discuss more details tomorrow. Everyone is dismissed for today."

Kurt waited right outside the door for Thad to finish talking to Wes and David. When he came out, Kurt practically jumped in his arms. "We get to go to New York."

"You're not excited at all. I can tell," Thad said sarcastically.

"It's only one of the places I've always wanted to go."

"I know, I know. I'm excited we get to go too." Thad took his hand and they walked down the hall toward the dorms.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

At the end of that week on Friday afternoon, Thad and Kurt were in Kurt's room working on their homework when Kurt's phone pinged with a text.

"So, last Friday night, I didn't go home and now Dad is pretty much insisting that I go this week since since I skipped last week. Do you want to come with me?" Kurt asked after he had read the text.

"Are you going to tell him that we're dating now?"

"Yes," he said with certainty. They had been dating for nearly a month and Kurt was happy with Thad.

"Would it be better for you if I'm there or not there?"

"I don't know. He won't be happy either way, probably. You could come with me. I'll drop you off at the library where you can work on your homework. I'll go home and talk to Dad. If he's going to be a pain in the neck about it, I'll just leave and pick you up and we'll come back. I'm not going to be bullied in my own home. Or you can just stay here and I'll still come back tonight if he's a pain about it. Or I could just call him and tell him and if he's huffin' and gruffin' about it, I just won't go at all."

"That's a lot of ideas. Which one are you going with?" Thad teased.

"I know. I hadn't really thought it through before I started talking," Kurt laughed at himself.

"Which one is easiest on you? You know I like to be with you, so that's not an issue." He leaned over and kissed Kurt.

"I think I'll call. If he's not pleasant about it, then I'll just stay here. It's a lot of driving and gas to go and turn around and come right back."

'Okay. I'll go put my stuff in my room and pack the books I need to do my homework and a couple outfits and come back. If we go, I'll have what I need and if we don't, I'll still have what I need to stay with you here." He kissed Kurt and stood up to go to his room.

After he shut the door, Kurt called Burt.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Fifteen minutes later, Kurt opened the door when Thad knocked. Thad put his stuff down on the empty bed.

"So..."

"So, we're staying here. Once the cafeteria opens, let's go down and grab a bunch of stuff that we can bring back up to my room. We'll have a picnic in here, just the two of us, okay?"

"Sure. Empty your satchel out and wear it down to dinner. We can put all the food on our trays and then sit somewhere out of sight and wrap it up and put it in your satchel and leave."

"I'll grab a plastic bag to put inside my bag in case something drips." Kurt got up, emptied his satchel onto the empty bed and found a bag to put in his satchel. Kurt turned around and Thad was standing behind him.

He pulled Kurt into a hug and just held him. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong. You shouldn't apologize."

"I know. I'm just sad for you."

"It's okay. I wanted to ask you something. Come sit down." They sat down on Kurt's bed, then quickly changed positions and were lying on their backs holding hands.

"Where are you going for spring break?"

"I haven't really decided yet. I wanted to ask you about it actually."

"Oh?"

"I wanted to see if you wanted to come with me."

"Where to?"

"Well, we can pick. We can go to Florida or Seattle."

"Wow. Those are completely different from each other."

"I know. I've been to both places."

"Are your parents going?"

"No. Just me, or us, if you'll come with me. If I go alone, I'll probably just go to Florida. But if you'll come, I'm open to either place."

"Where are you going to stay? I don't really have the money for a hotel for a week. I still have to pay for my AP exams."

"We won't stay in a hotel. My parents own a small condo in Florida, outside Miami. My dad's company has these micro apartments for when they need to house people for meetings in Seattle. It's basically just like a hotel room. We can stay in one of those at no cost."

"Well, I can pretty much guarantee my dad will say no, but honestly, I'm pretty fed up with the micromanaging. I've never gotten into trouble for something I actually did. My grades are high, even with coming here three-quarters of the way through the semester last fall. And on a different topic, I got a lecture about how it costs too much to send me here from my stepbrother this week."

Kurt took a deep breath and started again.

"Let me see if I can explain this so it makes sense. I've been dealing with it all week. My stepbrother is in New Directions. You knew that."

Thad nodded.

"Puck, who you met at my house, is also in New Directions, as is Rachel. There are 9 others. Puck brought Lauren in to take my place when I left to come here. So, they have had enough people to compete all year."

"Right."

"But for some reason, Santana has decided that I need to come back to McKinley."

Thad looked lost.

"She has somehow convinced my former bully to apologize to me in order to get me to return to McKinley, but I have yet to figure out her motivation. She and I were never close. They don't need me to compete in New York because no one has quit since Regionals."

"So, she's forming an anti-bullying club by bullying someone into starting it with her?"

"Exactly. On top of that, my stepbrother is part of this plan. So, I guess now, he's telling my dad that everything is fine at McKinley and the bullying has stopped and that the bullies will leave me alone. He's complaining to my dad that it's not fair that so much money is being spent on keeping me here when there's no reason for it now."

"Interesting strategy."

"It would help if I knew the motivation for all of this, but I've wracked my brain and cannot come up with one at all. Finn doesn't really like me. Santana and I have never been close. My returning to New Directions doesn't increase their chance of winning because I was never featured. So, my missing voice is not causing a problem for them like there would be if Rachel, Mercedes, Finn or Artie were missing."

"So, the money issue is what Finn is using to cause your dad to want you to come back home."

"Well, my tuition is already paid through the end of this semester, so leaving now wouldn't save my dad any money unless he could get them to return whatever portion of the cost is for my room and board. The tuition itself is more than likely non-refundable. So, I'm guessing it's about me not returning to Dalton next year."

"You don't want to leave do you?"

"No. I don't want to go back to school in Lima. I enjoyed being in New Directions and some of the people in the group were my friends. But even the ones I was closest with haven't really kept in contact with me here. It's not like I moved to California or something. They all have cars. They could come here if they wanted to."

"So, your dad wanted you to come home to talk about leaving Dalton."

"Yes. I didn't even tell him about you. I'm sorry. I was too upset to bring up something else for him to get frustrated about. I didn't want to hear something about how I was being stubborn about staying here 'because of a boy.'"

"So, you won't be coming back next fall..." Thad said sadly.

"That's not true. I've been thinking about it a lot. Graduating from Dalton will be a lot better than graduating from McKinley in terms of getting into a good college. I can continue to take AP classes here and take the exams. I'm taking 4 AP classes right now. If I take 6 next year, I could have credit for 10 college classes before starting college. That's basically a year's worth of college classes. I think the tuition here for a year is less than a year of college. So, I'm really thinking about accessing my education fund to pay to attend here next year."

"That's an interesting trade off."

"It is. I need to see if someone in the main office can help me with the details. I've been wondering about living off campus here in Westerville for next year - wondering if it would cost less. But I might not be able to access my funds for rent. It's all in the wording of everything. But the next time I go home, I'm bringing a copy of the requirements that were set up for the fund back with me."

"I can access my education trust fund when I turn 18 as well, but my parents will continue to pay for my schooling through high school. But since I turn 18 in August, I could technically live off campus next year. I hadn't really thought about it. I've never really lived, like permanently lived, somewhere since I was ... how old was I? Um... 10, I guess."

"You've been in boarding school since you were 10?"

"Well, I turned 11 right before I started. I was in England then, though."

"Wow. You've led such a different life than I have. Until I came here, the farthest I had been from Lima was going to Lake Michigan a couple of times and we went on a couple of field trips to Columbus when I was younger. My dad's a real homebody, plus he runs the shop and can't just take off."

"I don't think you're anything like your dad. I think you were born with wings to fly. People in Lima just keep clipping them."

"Interesting analogy." Kurt turned onto his side. Thad did too. Kurt put his hand on the side of Thad's neck and ran his thumb along his jaw and kissed him. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Just being you. And being here for me."

"Oh, well, you're welcome." He kissed Kurt. "Do you want to head down and grab the stuff for our in-room picnic?"

"Sure." They got up and Kurt slipped his satchel over his shoulder and they headed down to the cafeteria. They grabbed what they could sneak up in Kurt's bag.

They enjoyed their picnic. They spent the evening working on their homework so they'd have the weekend free.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, they got up and ate breakfast in the cafeteria. While Thad was standing in line waiting for pancakes to be ready, Kurt sat down. Blaine came up and sat down with him. Kurt had been putting off talking to him for several weeks. He decided to get it over with.

"Hey, Blaine."

"Hey, long time, no see," Blaine said cheerfully.

"I saw you yesterday in Warblers rehearsal." Kurt said flatly.

"Well, yeah, but we haven't gone out for coffee in ages."

"That's because the next-to-last time we went out, you stormed off and ditched me an hour from here and 30 minutes from my house and you have yet to apologize. And the last time, you left with Rachel suddenly."

"Oh, I had forgotten about that. Rachel's really excited that both of our groups are getting to go to New York to compete. It's too bad we won't be there the same weekend."

Kurt just sat there, feeling like he was in the Twilight Zone. Blaine was only thinking about what he was going to say next, not listening at all.

"Rachel's really great. She's so focused and energetic."

"I'm glad you're getting along," Kurt said flatly, not really caring.

"We really are. I'm so glad I went to that party at her house. I might have missed out on meeting my soulmate."

"Well, I'm glad you're happy," Kurt said with no emotion.

"Rachel says that you're thinking about going back to McKinley next year or even this year."

"Nope, definitely not," Kurt responded vehemently this time.

"Oh? She seemed pretty certain that you would be there next year for sure."

"Well, she was misinformed."

"I see."

"Rachel and I aren't really on speaking terms these days, so she's getting her information from somewhere else, somewhere less reliable than the original source."

"Hmm," Blaine mumbled, still seeming not to be paying attention to what Kurt was actually saying.

"Blaine, I need to ask you something."

"What?"

"I need to ask you to stop putting your hands on me. It continues to give everyone around us mixed messages. I know that you've been told that people thought I was your 'boy toy' or your 'piece on the side' or whatever since you've been dating Rachel. Your casual physicality is continuing to confuse people. I am not being bullied because that is against the rules here and if nothing else, prep boys need to follow the rules to get their trust funds. So, it's not worth the huge loss of money to bully me, but I am tired of the rumors. Thad and I have been dating for as long as you and Rachel have. I need you to stop touching me. I'm not sure why you do it. But you haven't stopped. Just keep your hands to yourself, please."

Thad had walked up and sat down about halfway through what Kurt said.

"That request is from me as well. Maybe you're just too oblivious to see the looks, but if the rumors got back to Rachel, I'm sure she'd be miffed. I have no idea who would tell her because I sure wouldn't. But just stop. No more putting your hands on Kurt at all."

"Got it. Well, I'll see you in rehearsal." He got up and walked off.

"I'm not sure what the point in him sitting here was to start with. Telling me about Rachel? All I can say is that they're a match made in self-love heaven. Rachel's as clueless as he is about how her actions affect others. He seriously asked me why we hadn't been out for coffee. I pointed out how he ditched me the last two times and hadn't apologized and his response was 'I had forgotten about that.' One of the times, he stranded me 30 minutes from home and an hour from here and he forgot? And even when I just reminded him, he still didn't apologize."

"Well, I hope he keeps his hands off you from now on. Next time, I might 'help' him remember."

"Maybe I'll just start jumping back like he's electrocuted me," Kurt laughed.

"Now, that could be fun to see."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They went back up to Kurt's room after breakfast.

"You know what?" Kurt said.

"What?"

"I want to change something about me."

"What do you want to change?"

"The fact that I've not even been to anything that might be cool in Ohio. I've lived here my whole life in a terrible small town, but there have to be cool things to do here. We've done all of our schoolwork, let's look online and find something cool to do in Columbus and go there."

"Good idea. I've mostly stayed on campus while I've been here. I've only had my car this school year. Only upperclassmen can have cars."

Kurt looked at him strangely.

"What?"

"Why does Blaine have a car here then? He's a sophomore."

"Special permission somehow I guess."

"Never mind him. Let's find something fun to do. I'll change in the bathroom. You can change out here, then we'll leave."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"COSI is so much fun," Kurt said as they got back into Thad's car.

"That's why I bought the membership. It costs the same for two visits as it does to buy the membership. So, we can come back whenever you want."

Kurt leaned over and kissed him before Thad pulled out of the parking spot. "Thank you."

Thad pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to Dalton.

"I have a question for you," Kurt said.

"Fire away."

"You've been talking about quite a few future things for the two of us. You said Dalton doesn't have rules about couples rooming together."

"Right."

"And the other bed in my room is empty. You've been spending a lot of time in my room. I was wondering if you wanted to see if the school would just let you move into my room as my roommate."

"I can see. I'd like to. If the school says no, I could always just move most of my stuff into your room and just leave a few things in my room in case of emergency and I can't get into your room to get something."

"I'd like to see if we can live together and get along. I think we can, but I'd like for you to stay with me and we can find out for sure."

"I think we'll be fine." He reached over and put his hand on Kurt's leg for a minute.

"I've been thinking about spring break. I'll go with you, even if my dad says no. I'm going to be 18 next month. He can't just keep acting like I'm 12. I'm thinking of driving home tomorrow morning and having a long talk with him."

"I'll ride with you, so you don't have to drive both ways alone. I can sit in a coffee shop or something. There has to be a Starbucks somewhere. I think they've invaded every town that has more than 10,000 people."

"There's a Starbucks. The coffee is terrible, but as long as you buy one, you can sit there for hours," he laughed.

"I can find something to read or work on. Are you ready for the crazy that will be the Warblers floor party tonight?"

"Let's stop and get some snacks somewhere."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sunday morning came faster than Kurt had wanted it to. He and Thad had breakfast and headed off to Lima. They talked about all sorts of things on the drive, like they usually did. One thing that Kurt really liked about Thad was that he was really knowledgeable about all sorts of things. Kurt felt relaxed around him and he felt like he was "enough". Thad genuinely enjoyed his company.

Thad brought his iPad and assured Kurt that he wouldn't run out of things to do while sitting in Starbucks.

Kurt drove the rest of the way to his house alone. He felt like he was driving to see his executioner. He pulled up in the driveway, got out, and went inside.

He found Burt sitting in the living room with Carole. Finn was nowhere in sight.

"Don't worry. Finn's not here. It's just the three of us. You said you wanted to talk in private, so I sent him off to Puck's last night after you called," Carole said.

"Thanks. I really appreciate that. First off, I want to discuss what Finn's problem is with me going to Dalton. He's been pestering me for nearly a week about going back to McKinley. He keeps telling me that it's costing you guys too much to keep me at Dalton, but that doesn't really make sense.

"Well, Kurt, what he's told me is that there's no reason for you not to be living at home with us as a family and that the issues at McKinley have been resolved and that now there's an anti-bullying club that's gotten the bullying under control."

"Now, there's an interesting spin on it. He's texting me telling me that I need to go back to McKinley because it's costing you guys too much money, but he's telling you that I should go back so I'll be home and we can be a 'family'. I smell something fishy. Finn doesn't want me here. No offense Carole, but when I am here, he leaves. If he wanted to spend time with me, he wouldn't take off after dinner and sleep until lunch the next day."

"Kurt, that's not kind," Burt said.

"Sometimes the truth isn't kind, but that doesn't make it untrue. Back to the issue of money, which is what he keep pestering me about. The tuition and fees were due at the beginning of the semester. If I leave now, the best case scenario would be you'd get back less than two months of room and board, if it's even refundable. I mean I already slept there and ate there for the last three months. The books belong to me since we had to pay for them. you won't get any money back unless there's some way to sell them online. So, what's his deal with him continuing to text me about how I need to come back and go to McKinley?"

No one said anything.

Kurt continued. "Plus, in all honesty the money Dad paid for me to go to school there came from his own investments. I know he used your honeymoon money up front last semester because his savings account was the only thing he could liquidate fast enough to enroll me in school immediately. I know he replaced that money with money he had in a CD. So, the honest truth is that the money that's been used to send me to school there this year was my dad's before he ever met you or Finn. I don't mean that disrespectfully at all. But Finn doesn't really get any say in how my dad spends the money he saved."

Carole spoke up. "I can probably answer the question about where the focus on money is coming from. He's been asking me for a new truck. He says his is too beat up and old. I told him that I didn't have the money to buy him a new truck. He got upset and said that it wasn't fair that you have a nice Navigator and go to a fancy, expensive school and he can't even have a nicer truck."

"Okay. So, maybe he doesn't understand how paying tuition works? Maybe he thinks that if I come home, you'll have extra money?"

"I'm not sure, but that would be my guess."

"Or maybe he just doesn't understand that the money being used to pay my tuition isn't coming out of your incomes. Maybe he thinks you're paying a monthly bill out of the money you are currently earning. Whatever his misunderstanding is, that's on you and Dad to explain to him."

"I will, honey."

"And maybe he needs to be told that Dad probably didn't pay any more for my Navigator than you did for Finn's truck. I fixed the Navigator up so it was drivable. Dad didn't go out and buy me a nice, new Navigator. He bought me a Navigator that someone didn't keep serviced and the timing belt broke on. I fixed every bit of the damage myself. If his truck is running ragged, then he should go down to the shop and learn how to fix it. He could buff the damage out of the body. Then he could get a job and save up money to have it repainted or do that himself too."

"I know, honey. He just doesn't think that way."

"Well, maybe it's time for him to start thinking more like an adult. We both have one year of high school left."

"Kurt," Burt said sternly.

"Look, Dad, part of why I came home is to straighten things out between us. I'm not a child and you have got to get that through your head. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I'm nearly 18. I've never caused you any trouble other than for being myself. I'm not the one who nailed someone's lawn furniture to their roof. I'm not the one who tossed people or helped toss people into dumpsters. I'm not the one that tossed slushies in people's faces. I'm not the one who threw pee balloons at people. I'm the one whose life was threatened. I'm the one that had to start three-quarters of the way through the semester at a school that's a lot harder than the one I was going to AND I still got As. I'm the one that went away to a place where I had no friends and had to start over. I'm not a child. I haven't been a child in a LONG, LONG time."

Burt just sat there looking at Kurt. Carole had a few tears running down her cheeks.

She was the one to speak first. "Did Finn do those things, Kurt?"

"Yes. Not alone, but yes."

"Why did you let things get so bad and not tell me?" Burt asked.

"What could you have done about it? Defend me? Make me even more of a target because my daddy had to stand up for me because I'm such a fairy that I can't defend myself?"

"I'm the father."

"Yes, you're the father. My only parent for eight years. My only parent that ended up in the hospital in a coma after I sassed back about missing a family dinner to go to something I wanted to go to."

"You know those things aren't related."

"I know. I knew then. I also knew that you were all I had. That was a really low point in my life, here alone while you were in the hospital."

"What do you mean alone?"

"No one was home but me. Who else would have been here?"

"Didn't you stay with some of the Glee kids?"

"No. They were ostracizing me because I told them I was an atheist. The girls especially. I guess I could have tried to convince one of them."

"Kurt, I didn't know," Carole said.

"You didn't ask. I don't ask for things. I make do and get by on my own. We're off topic. Well, I guess it's still relevant to my original topic. I've gotten by on my own. I'm not a child."

"Okay. I get it. I need to stop acting like you're my little boy."

"I know that being my father has been hard. I know that you get calls. I know that the property damage has added up probably to $10,000 by now. But that's part of what all of this is about. I don't want to be here anymore. I'm not wanted here. I'm not welcome here. I'm done being here."

"What are you saying? Stop beating around the bush."

"I'm saying that I'm not coming home for spring break and I'm not spending the summer in Lima and I'm going back to Dalton in the fall."

"Kurt, you are still my child. You can't just walk out."

"Oh, but I can. I turn 18 next month and I can access my educational fund and I can use it to pay my tuition at Dalton. I can take 6 AP classes next year, take the tests and earn credit for 6 college classes in addition to the 4 I'm taking this year. That will provide the equivalent of one year of college courses."

"Kurt," Burt said sternly.

"If you do something to withdraw me from Dalton before the end of the school year, I will borrow the money from the guys I go to school with who have more money than God and I will find a way to pay them back later. Then I'll use that money to pay to stay there. I haven't worked all semester long in really hard AP courses just to be pulled out of my classes a month before the AP exams that I can get college credit for taking."

Burt was visibly upset, but remained quiet.

Kurt continued, "Please calm down and think about it. I have done nothing wrong. I never did anything wrong except be born in this cow town. I am not saying I am a perfect person. That would be a stupid thing to say. I can think of plenty of things I should have done differently. But I haven't done anything to cause you to act like I need to be micromanaged."

"What about your secret boyfriend?" Burt asked.

"You mean my not-so-secret boyfriend that is sitting in Starbucks so I wouldn't have to drive over here and back to school alone? The one I was going to tell you about today? You've met him. He's been here twice. His identity isn't a secret. What I want to know is how you know that I have a boyfriend."

Burt said, "Finn."

Carol answered, "Blaine."

"Blaine?"

"Yeah, he's been over here several times hanging out with the Glee guys. He told the guys about your boyfriend. How you seem really serious and spend all of your time together, even all night together," Burt said disdainfully.

"Great, just great. Blaine obviously lacks a proper filter, proper etiquette, and common sense."

"Well, you and I are having 'The Talk' before you leave."

"No, we aren't. I'm not the one who needed the information. You were. You were the one who said you didn't know 'what went down in the tent'. I know. I've known for quite a while. I don't need any explanations. I was just angry that you hadn't done anything to learn about it on your own. And not that it's any of your business, since I am above the age of consent in Ohio, but since Blaine butted in where he didn't have any business to - yes, my boyfriend spends the night in my dorm room frequently. Do NOT call the school and complain. I mean it. The guys on my floor are all above the age of consent. And just for your knowledge, we aren't doing what went down in the tent."

Carole looked sheepish.

"Gay men aren't sex-crazed molesting maniacs. I can actually decide that I'm not ready to have sex all on my own and then actually have the self-control to follow through with my decision."

"Well, okay then," Burt said. "I never said you were a sex-crazed molesting maniac or whatever."

"Well, it sure felt like it when you got mad at me for letting Blaine sleep off his drunken stupor in my bed. You sure did make me feel like I couldn't be trusted not to take his clothes off and have my way with him while he was drunk. You actually called me potentially saving his life and other people's lives 'inappropriate'. You do know that people as drunk as he was have been known to vomit and then choke on it and die, right? If I had made him sleep downstairs on the couch, I would have had to sleep on one of the chairs to make sure he didn't die in his sleep. At least in my bed, I was more comfortable and closer to a bathroom to clean him up, if necessary. But no, the first thing that comes to your mind is that I was being inappropriate with a drunk gay guy in my bed."

Burt didn't say anything.

"I don't drink. I don't let other people drink and drive. I do my best to keep drunk people from dying in their sleep. I can try to keep people from drinking, but that's a lot harder than it might seem sometimes."

"Im sorry, Kurt. I didn't... I shouldn't have said that to you."

"Actually, you shouldn't have THOUGHT it about me. That really hurt. That's why I walked out of the house and left you with the disaster in the kitchen. It wasn't exactly an easy afternoon for me, finding out that the guy that I had liked didn't like me back at all, and instead, he liked Rachel enough to go out on a date with her AND he ditched me to do it. I needed to walk away before I said something I might have regretted."

"I get that."

"So, to recap why I drove an hour and a half on a Sunday morning:

One - Finn needs to stop pestering me about McKinley. I don't care how Santana got Karofsky to join the Bully Whips. Well, I do because bullying someone into joining an anti-bullying group is not right, but I cannot change Santana's actions. I am not getting involved in anything that involves Karofsky. My final word on this topic is that I am not going back to McKinley this year or next. I enjoy going to a school where teachers teach, students learn, and no one bullies anyone AT ALL.

Two - I won't be home for spring break week after next. McKinley has spring break this week, so I would just be sitting here in an empty house while the two of you work or I could join Dad at work. I'm not doing either.

Three - I won't be home this summer either. I've already started looking at apartments in Westerville. I've found a place that's furnished for $395 a month. I can afford that if I get a job working at a shop in Westerville for the summer. And I'll also be able to save up money to cover my car insurance and my phone, should you decide to stop paying for those. But I would have to point out that if you stop paying for mine, it would only be fair if you stopped paying for Finn's as well.

Four - When I bring Thad to visit with me, I expect you to treat him respectfully. None of this 'I have a shotgun and I know how to use it' or 'Tell me your intentions with my son.' stuff. I am not a girl. I do not need my virtue protected. I am every bit as much of a man as Finn. You would never consider saying those things to a girl he brought home."

"You are acting awfully bossy and like you're the one in charge here."

"No, I am taking charge of my life now that I can. I do not have to live with being bullied. I've spent the last four months of my life living free of constant harassment. Four months out of the last 10 years of my life. Thad and I go out to eat in Westerville and we can walk around holding hands and no one screams 'fags' at us from across the street. Servers don't give us dirty looks. Our friends are predominantly straight guys who treat us like we are just two guys because we ARE just two guys. We can sit with our group of friends watching a movie in the lounge on our floor and hold hands during the movie and no one bothers to even notice. There's no reason for me to come back here and be called names when I walk down the street or to pick up the house phone when it rings and be told to kill myself to improve the world."

Carole was actually crying at this point. "I understand, Kurt. You know I didn't know about most of this stuff, right?"

"I know. I didn't rat people out. I didn't run to the teachers tattling on people, not that it would have done any good. Mr. Schue saw me being physically assaulted and did nothing. I've just tried to keep my head up and focus on the future. It just so happens that I can make the future get here a little sooner than I had thought and I'm going to do it."

Carole nodded. Burt didn't move.

"Dad, I love you. Please don't ask me to stay where people hate me when there is someplace I can be where people respect me and where I've found someone who actually cares about me. If that existed here, I would have no reason to leave. But just because Santana bullies Karofsky into leaving me alone for the last 7 or 8 weeks of school, that will not make the rest of the bullies in this town leave me alone. I am one person. There are lots of them. I can't win this fight, especially when I won't fight back."

Burt had tears streaming down his face.

"I know all of this is upsetting for you. And I'm really sorry about that. I know Finn will be super angry with me when he finds out what I told the two of you. I kept it from the two of you and all that got me was a lot of nothing. I hate that I have had to resort to being a snitch to make my point, but you weren't listening when I kept the details to myself. And I'm sorry you found out this way, Carole. I have tried to make things right with Finn. Maybe we can work it out some day, once he grows up more and realizes that there's more to life than driving a nicer truck."

"I'm going to talk to him about his entitled attitude. I didn't know that he had been pestering you."

"If the two of you want to have lunch with Thad and me, you can follow us out of town somewhere. Or if you want him to come here for lunch, I can go pick him up and bring him back while you go pick up Chinese or something. I'll bring him here, but only if you can treat him respectfully, Dad. He's a really nice guy and I really like him. I don't need you to go all papa bear and act like I'm a blushing virgin 12-year old girl that needs protecting from a big bad man."

"I got it. You're right. My knee-jerk reaction would be that he's not good enough for you and attempt to scare him straight."

"Funny, Dad. Really funny."

"What?"

"Scaring any boyfriend of mine 'straight' would be pretty much impossible."

"Oh. You know what I meant."

"I do. And it's exactly what I don't want you to do. So, anyway, it's up to you. I can go pick him up and bring him here while you go pick up take out or we can go out somewhere NOT in Lima. Or I can just go pick him up and he and I can eat on the way back to Dalton."

"I think here's fine, honey. What should I order for him?"

"Szechuan chicken. And I'll have kung pao chicken."

"Got it. You go get him and I'll call in the order so it will be ready when I get there to pick it up," Carole said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt texted Thad that he was in the parking lot. Thad came out and got in the Navigator. Kurt pulled out and he headed back to his house.

"So, it went okay?" Thad asked on the ride to Kurt's house.

"It went. I told him what I went to tell him. In other news, you weren't news."

"What's that mean?"

"Blaine has been at my house spending time with the New Directions guys and he told them all about us, including you spending the night in my room most of the time."

"Great," Thad said sarcastically. "Now, your dad will want to castrate me."

"Probably, but I told him to stop acting like I was a 12-year old virgin girl that needed my virtue protected."

"Ooh, burn. Is this one of those epic smack downs of yours that I missed out on?"

"Yeah."

"Damn."

"You're so silly sometimes."

"You have not seen how hot you are when you get really annoyed at someone."

"How can me being angry be hot?"

"Oh, it's not that you're angry. It's the amount of care and effort you put into being so exquisitely polite all while eviscerating whoever it is that's hot to see."

"Whatever," he laughed. "Just as long as you don't decide to take up annoying me as a hobby just to watch me get aggravated."

"Oh, no, no. I don't want to be on the receiving end. I just like watching your mind work as you put people in their place. Maybe you should be a lawyer. Or one of those TV judges that gets to tell people exactly how stupid they are."

Kurt just shook his head and laughed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt gave himself a pep talk. "So, we walk in the door a united front. We face my parents as the adults we purport to be. We don't have to have all of the answers, just the willpower to prove that we can find the answers or something like that."

"What will happen if I kiss you right now?"

"Um, I'll kiss you back?"

"You don't have any neighbors that will break your Navigator's windows while we're inside, right?"

"Not in broad daylight. Vandalism is generally relegated to the night time when it's a lot easier to sneak around."

"Good to know." He leaned over and kissed Kurt.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"The same thing as always, I suppose. Putting up with me, being here for me."

"You're welcome, although I don't see it as putting up with you. You do know I actually like spending time with you, right?"

Kurt leaned over and Thad leaned to meet him. They kissed again.

"I know, but I feel like you're always having to deal with my messed up life."

"Shall we go inside before they come looking for us?"

"Yeah. We can do this, right?"

"Right."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Are you really going to provide your dad with ALL of that information?"

"Nope. I'll give him what seems reasonable. He already has my cell phone number," Kurt said as he put his suitcase into the backseat of the Navigator.

"Did you get the papers you needed?"

"Yes. My dad photocopied the stipulations and gave the copy to me. I think he secretly hopes that he still has some type of control over it even once I'm 18. I guess it didn't go as bad as it could have, but it could have gone better. But I can't expect radical changes overnight. I'll give him some time to think about things."

"So, back to Dalton?"

"Unless there's something you want to do between here and there."

"Come up with a legal and kind plan to get rid of Blaine?"

Kurt laughed out loud. "Not yet. We need him for the trip to New York. We don't have time for someone else to learn his part."

"Okay, so we find a legal and kind way to leave him behind in New York."

"Now, who's the one handing out smack downs?"

"Well, he deserves it. You said the New Directions are gossips. I know how much you value privacy. He had no right to say anything about your love life."

"I guess there's the possibility that he thought they already knew?"

"There you go being too nice. No one tells people things that they know are common knowledge. There's no fun in that. It sounds to me like he was trying to buy his way into the New Directions guys' group by doling out juicy tidbits of information. The question is why? Why does he care that the New Directions guys think? I mean if he spent any time listening to you talk, he would know that you weren't close to the guys. You were friends with the girls."

"Sam."

"Sam?"

"Bleach blond. Sang 'Time of My Life' at Sectionals with a blonde girl. I owe him an apology anyway. Look in my phone and see if I have his phone number."

"Nope, no listing for Sam."

"Well, I'll have to work on that."

"Why would talking to him help?"

"He'll be honest with me. He's a straight boy with no prejudice. He's a rare find around here."

"I'm not sure I understand that, but I'm sure there's some huge long story that goes with it that you're not interested in re-hashing right now while you're driving."

"Exactly."

"And Sam is a good guy in this messed up story you call your life?"

"You got it."

Once they were out on the highway and not having to stop and start, Kurt told Thad about Sam.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They walked into the dorm entrance hand in hand. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I don't feel like eating dinner with my fellow Dalton students tonight."

"Is that so?"

"It is. I propose we call and order a pizza to be delivered to this entrance and that we go for a walk in the woods until it comes. It's Sunday evening and the pizza places take a while on Sundays. We should get at least 15-20 minute walk once we get back there."

"I like your idea. I'll call one in," Thad said as he pulled out his phone.

The walk, the handholding and the kissing in the woods were just what Kurt needed to unwind from his very tense day. They were about 100 feet from the door when Thad's phone rang for someone to meet the delivery driver.

Kurt called out toward the door. "We're coming. Almost there."

The delivery driver turned in their direction when he heard them call out.

"Kurt?"

"Sam?"

They both spoke at the same time.

"I actually tried to call you earlier, but I don't have your number in my phone. What are you doing way out here delivering pizzas?"

Sam looked down at the ground.

"Do you have any more deliveries to make?"

"No, yours is my last one. And since you paid by credit card, I don't have to go back in or anything."

"Come sit with us and have some pizza, unless you're too sick of pizza to eat any."

"Nah, I'm not too sick of pizza to eat a slice."

Sam followed them into the garden and had a seat at a picnic table. Kurt opened the pizza box and offered Sam the first piece. He reached in a took a slice. Kurt and Thad sat on the opposite side of the table.

"Sam, this is my boyfriend, Thad. Thad, Sam."

"Nice to meet you, Sam. I've heard really nice things about you."

Sam seemed a bit perplexed by that, but said, "Nice to meet you, too."

"So, Sam, why are you delivering pizzas way out here in Westerville?"

"The pizza place was hiring and I need a job."

"What about places in Lima?"

"I couldn't get on anywhere. I tried. Trust me."

"Driving all the way out here and then driving around all day has got to be putting a ton of miles on your truck. Call the shop and take it in whenever you're off and let my dad tune it up. I don't want you out driving and it to conk out on you."

"Nah, I don't have the money for that."

"I wasn't asking you to pay, Sam. Please. I'll tell him. It will be fine."

Sam was blinking, trying to avoid letting the tears in his eyes spill.

"Sam, hey. What's really going on?"

"My dad lost his job a little over two months ago. He's been trying to get another one, but no one is hiring. Like no one. This job is the only thing paying for us to stay in a motel."

"A motel?"

"Yeah. The bank foreclosed on our house for not paying the mortgage for two months. They just showed up one day when we weren't home and changed the locks on the house. Everything we had inside, they took hostage. My dad and mom have tried fighting them, but the best they got was that the company gave them 10 minutes in the house to collect things like our birth certificates. My mom grabbed my sister's blanket and my brother's favorite toy and the papers they were told they could get and that was it. We're all living in that run down motel off the highway not far from the doughnut shop."

"Yeah, I know where that is. What room?"

Sam answered.

"Can I tell my dad? He knows a lot of people. Your family is new. Lima is not a friendly place to outsiders. My dad might be able to get your dad a job."

"Okay, yeah. No one knows. You know how everyone at school is."

"I won't tell anyone, Sam."

"I know."

"Have some more pizza." Kurt offered.

Sam took another slice. "Thanks."

"Any time. I actually tried to call you this afternoon to apologize to you and to thank you. I know it's a little late, but better late than never, I suppose."

Sam kept eating, but looked confused.

"I wanted to apologize for backing out of singing with you without giving you a decent explanation. My whole 'singing with someone with my own level of passion', or whatever it was that I said, was just my way of saving face and not having to admit to you that I had caved to the pressure Finn was putting on me about not singing with you. I was protecting you from what the neanderthals at school would do to you if they thought you were gay."

"Finn tried to make me back down too. I told him that I gave you my word and I wasn't going back out on it."

Now, Kurt was the one trying not to cry. "Really?"

"Yeah. So, I already knew that Finn had a problem with gay guys because he warned me away from you. I wasn't going to listen to him, but then you backed out and avoided me like the plague. I thought you changed your mind and decided that I wasn't good enough. Not like that's anything new."

"Sam, I'm really sorry. I wish I had told you the truth then. But things were so bad then. Karofsky was just relentless. I didn't want to give him a second target. You were new. I wanted you to have a chance at McKinley. Like I said, Lima's not the friendliest of places. I knew you'd be better off having the whole club behind your back than having me as a friend."

"Well, I'm not sure that's true. And I forgive you. I understand. You were trying to protect me when I didn't realize what being friends with you could do to me."

"And I wanted to thank you. For standing up for Mike and Artie when they went after Karofsky in the locker room."

"That was not cool. Knocking a dude out of a wheelchair? And going after Mike, he's like tiny. They had guts confronting him. I'm just glad no one else got hurt any worse. I wish there was something I could have done that would have actually made a difference."

"You can't cure stupid."

Sam laughed. So did Thad.

They finished off the pizza. Sam stood up to go. Kurt stood up too and pulled Sam into a hug, which he relaxed into and hugged back.

"Sam, I want you to follow me in your truck, okay. I'd just drive, but you can't leave your truck parked like that without a parking sticker."

"Um, okay?"

"Actually, Thad will you drive your car? I'll ride with Sam to make sure he doesn't get caught at a light or something and lose us."

"Okay."

Kurt leaned in and told Thad to drive to the nearby grocery store. He nodded. Kurt grabbed the pizza box and tossed it in the dumpster in the parking lot.

"Okay, Sam. Let's go!" Kurt said as he hopped into Sam's truck. They followed Thad out of the parking lot.

"What's been going at school? Finn's been pressuring me non-stop about going back to McKinley. He says that Santana has reformed Karofsky, which sounds highly suspicious to me."

"Yeah, I don't buy it either. She and I had been dating since not too long after Quinn cheated on me with Finn - right before Rachel's party. And then she shows up to Glee one afternoon with Karofsky in tow and he gives this obviously prepared speech about being sorry and changing. And then she says that he's her boyfriend and now they're going to run for Prom King and Queen together."

"Well, that's an unusual twist."

"Yeah. It's not like I was in love with her or anything, but she could have at least had the decency to break up with me BEFORE she introduced him as her boyfriend. Now, people are talking. Quinn cheated on me, then Santana."

"Rumors suck. I've been dealing with them for quite a while. Don't get me wrong, Dalton is great. I am not bullied at all. I love the classes. But teenagers are teenagers and they love to gossip. The rumor mill at Dalton says that I'm Blaine's boy toy or something along those lines. He's all touchy-feely with me, which had given me the false impression that he liked me. That along with about," Kurt paused. "30 plus coffee dates and what not. And the other guys at school all thought we were dating. So, when he showed up at a Warblers meeting in early February and declared he was in love with the assistant manager at the GAP, the faces in the room probably looked a lot like they did when Santana proclaimed Karofsky to be her boyfriend."

"Not a lot of fun for either of us, though."

"No. Not at all. If I had to guess, the rumor mill at McKinley has you pegged as unwilling to put out so Santana dropped you and I have the opposite rumor going around about me. I'm just a plaything. Blaine gets to have his cake and eat it too - a girlfriend and a boy toy on the side. And I put out for Thad too. A slut - that's me."

Sam laughed so hard he nearly choked. "I guess the upside is that at least the rumor isn't that you're pregnant."

"Very funny. There are probably a lot more people who would believe that than you think. I have a question for you. What's going on with Blaine hanging out with the New Directions guys? I know he's dating Rachel, but why spend time with the guys when he has so little time to spend in Lima as it is."

"I haven't figured him out. He's loud and talkative and seems to try to be the center of attention all the time, but he doesn't really seem to be into gaming, which is what we do most of the time when we're together. I'm not sure why, but the other guys seem to like him. To me, he's like a male version of Rachel. And as for why he spends time with the Glee guys, he said that Rachel wanted him to get to know the guys in the group."

Sam pulled into the lot and parked next to Thad.

"Why are we at a grocery store?"

"Because I'm going to buy some food for your family. I'm sure you're getting food stamps, but I know that's never enough. If you won't take it for yourself, at least take it for your brother and sister. They're too little to really understand. I want to come see you tomorrow. I'm going to go home after school and collect up some of my toys that are in boxes and bring them over for them to play with. Now, come on inside and let's find some food for you to take home. You can consider it another tip for excellent pizza delivery if you'd like."

Kurt put his arm around Sam's shoulder and took Thad's hand and they walked up to the door. Kurt let Sam go in first and grab a cart.

"So, let's go to the breakfast bars and you can get whatever kind they like. I'm assuming they're getting breakfast and lunch at school since your dad's unemployed."

"Yeah, all three of us are. But I've not been eating unless I can manage to get in the line before anyone else because I don't want anyone to see that I'm getting free lunches."

"Okay then. Some cereal bars for you too. Peanut butter and bread? Apples? Maybe not the breakfast and lunch of champions, but it won't spoil and you won't be hungry."

"It's fine. I can eat anything."

They finished up their shopping. Kurt paid and they carried the bags back out to Sam's truck.

"I was serious about your truck. It's the only means of getting money for your family right now. Take it in and let my dad tune it up for you."

"Okay, okay. I will."

"Are you working tomorrow evening?"

"No. I only work Saturdays and Sundays. I don't have time to drive all the way over on weekdays, plus they were only hiring a weekend delivery driver."

"Okay. Then, I'll be over around 6:30 or so. Here," Kurt said handing Sam his phone. "Put your number in so I can call you if something changes drastically." Kurt put his phone back in his pocket when Sam finished.

"Can you get back to Lima from here?" Thad asked.

"Yeah. I was paying attention, plus I have a GPS. The bank didn't manage to take it since it was in my truck at the time."

Kurt stepped closer and hugged Sam again. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Sam climbed in his truck and waved as he drove off.


	3. Chapter 3

Thad went to Lima with Kurt the next day.

Kurt went through his clothes and he pulled out a few shirts and some pairs of jeans that had fit when he was a little stockier, but had been bought with room for him to "grow into", meaning that he had worn them cuffed, so there was a decent chance that the stuff would fit Sam.

He also grabbed the red Chucks he had bought to wear for Glee the year before that he only ever wore for Glee. He and Sam were close in height, so maybe the shoes would fit.

He also opened a storage box in his closet that had some unopened packs of white briefs and athletic crew socks that his Aunt Mildred had sent him for Christmas that he never had the nerve to just donate somewhere.

Kurt went in his dad's closet and found a few flannel shirts from back in the day when his dad was a little less portly, none of which fit his dad now. He grabbed a belt that was too small for his dad too, in case the jeans were too loose on Sam.

He and Thad sorted through a box of old toys, picking out the ones best suited for Sam's brother and sister. He also found some old school supplies in his closet. He grabbed those too.

"We'll stop by the dollar store and grab some coloring books."

"Good idea," Thad said.

"Let me go grab a box from the basement, and then we'll get out of here. Finn's not home, but every minute we stay the odds increase of him showing up."

Kurt came right back up with two boxes. They packed everything up, carried it out to the Navigator and headed to the dollar store. They grabbed coloring books, a couple drawing pads, and some candy bars, which Kurt tossed into the box of toys.

They pulled into the motel lot.

"Just stay here in the Navigator. This is a bad area and you can watch from here. If something happens just call the police."

Thad nodded. Kurt opened the backseat, grabbed the two boxes and the pizza they had stopped to pick up stacked on top, and carried them to the motel room. Sam opened the door and let him in.

"Stevie and Stacey, this is my friend Kurt."

"Hi Kurt," Stacey said. "What's in the boxes?"

"A pizza!" Stevie said excitedly.

"Yay!"

"I'll let Sam open the boxes for you after I leave, but there are some things in there for you and Stevie."

Sam opened the pizza box and told them to dig in.

Kurt walked back to the door. Sam followed him.

Kurt spoke quietly. "There are some clothes in there for you, and toys and stuff for Stevie and Stacey. I hope the clothes are okay. They're pretty plain. I didn't bring anything that would attract attention. Jeans, t-shirts, flannel shirts, a coat. Maybe the Converse in there will fit. If not, you can sell them at the resale shop for some cash. I never wear them. Take your truck in before you deliver pizzas next weekend. I already told my dad. You're off for spring break all week. Just take Stevie and Stacey with you and get your truck looked at. Kurt took a $20 bill out of his wallet. Take this to Goodwill. Buy Stevie and Stacey new clothes. The color of the week clothes are half price and the kids clothes are only like $2-3 each regular price. You should be able to get them at least 2 or 3 outfits each."

Kurt opened the door and stepped outside. He shook hands with Sam on the stoop.

"Thanks for everything, Kurt. Really."

"You're welcome. I'll call you - in the evening, so you can wipe your call log and no one will see I've been calling."

Kurt walked back to the Navigator and drove out of the motel lot and headed for the highway back to Dalton.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Can you pull up our school calendar? Kurt asked Thad. "When is that 2-day teacher in-service break we have that's coming up? I'm going to go to Lima and clean out my room and whatever of mine is in the basement. Going in there today just made me realize how much stuff I've accumulated over the years that I am never, ever going to use again. I kept it thinking that it might come in handy for costumes. I'll sell off what I can at a resale shop. Maybe we can find one in Westerville or north Columbus and the rest I'm donating. I'm going to move out this summer and I don't want to leave a bunch of stuff behind for Carole to have to deal with and honestly dorm rooms are too small to store all that extra stuff in. I just need to let it go."

"It's May 19-20th."

"Weird time for in-service days."

"Can you pull over at the next turn off?"

"Sure."

"Actually, it lets the teachers get caught up from grading all of the end-of-semester papers and it gives the students time to get caught up and review before finals start."

"That's makes sense. That's the perfect time though. Finn will be in New York. I'm going to go home early Thursday morning and stay until I'm done. Friday or Saturday. I'll bring back whatever I'm keeping and just store it in our room, under the bed or whatever."

Kurt pulled off the highway.

"Scheming and planning is a good look on you," Thad teased.

"Don't tell me that you are secretly into bad boys."

"There's no secret who I'm into." He leaned over and kissed Kurt.

"Why did you want me to pull over?"

"I kept losing my signal and I need to buy those plane tickets." He was focused on his phone for a few minutes. "There. Done."

"So, back out onto the highway?"

"Yep."

"And no, I'm not secretly into bad boys. I certainly wouldn't be dating you if I were. You are the kindest person I've ever met. I just love to see your eyes light up when you come up with a plan. It's fun to watch."

Kurt rolled his eyes, shook his head slightly and smiled.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next afternoon, Thad and Kurt had plans to go out to a movie to celebrate their first month together after Warblers practice that afternoon. They were learning a new piece for the competition because the rules required them to have four performance-ready pieces, so they extended their rehearsals on Tuesdays and Thursdays to work on their dancing.

Kurt and Thad left together after rehearsal and went to Kurt's room. He opened the door and from behind, he heard "surprise." He realized that all of Thad's stuff was in his, no their room. Kurt turned around and reached behind Thad and pushed the door closed.

"They said 'yes'?"

"They said 'yes'. I am now officially your roommate."

Kurt nearly jumped on him with the huge hug he gave him. He loosened his grip and kissed him. "Welcome home." And the, he kissed him again.

"Well, that's the best greeting I've ever gotten for showing up somewhere," he said as he smiled and then kissed Kurt again.

"I'm really excited."

"Me too, actually. So, homework now, then the movies later. I'm going to change out of my uniform." Thad opened his closet and grabbed some clothes and went in the bathroom. Kurt took the opportunity to change while Thad was gone.

"Nice," Thad said when he came out. "That's a good color on you."

"Thanks."

"Will it disturb you if I practice my guitar while you are doing your reading or whatever?"

"Not at all."

"Oh, good. I usually practiced when I wasn't with you, but since I've moved in, that would be hard to do."

"I love hearing you play, so it won't bother me a bit." Kurt kissed him as he walked past and sat at his desk to get his Trigonometry done before they went to the movie.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Swim trunks, check. Shorts, check. Shirts, check. Toiletries, to be added after I shower tonight. Underwear, socks, pajamas, water shoes, check. I think that's it for both of us."

Kurt walked up behind Thad, who was still looking over the contents of the suitcase, and wrapped his arms around him and tip toed so he could see over his shoulder. "Looks good to me." He kissed him on the back of the neck and started to let go, but Thad caught his hand and spun himself toward Kurt and kissed him.

"So, 9 days on the beach. I'm going to turn into a lobster."

"Nah, I'll buy you a big hat and a SPF 50 shirt when we get there. That way you won't have to slather your skin in nasty chemicals all day long."

Kurt batted his eyes quite alluringly and said in an extra high voice while fanning himself, "My hero," and started laughing. "Really, thank you. I was just being silly."

"I know. I love it when you laugh." He kissed him again.

"Dinner, homework - if you have any left, showers, snuggle, sleep, get up, classes, airports, FLORIDA!"

"Sounds perfect."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Friday afternoon Kurt and Thad had about two hours after Warbler rehearsal before they were being picked up by an airport shuttle to go to the airport. Kurt's phone rang after they were back in their room from practice.

"Hello, Finn. What can I do for you this fine spring afternoon?" Kurt put his phone on speaker so Thad could hear.

"Just knock it off, Kurt. What the hell?"

"Now pray tell, what have I done?"

"You know what you did. I'm grounded 'til like forever. And I had to make reparisations or something."

"Reparations?"

"Yeah, that. I had to work at the garage all day, every day during spring break for no pay."

"And that's my fault because?"

"Because you told my mom about stuff from the past. I thought we were over that."

"Well, YOU may be over that, but I don't actually recall you ever actually sincerely apologizing for treating me like crap for several years."

"I quit doing it. Wasn't that enough?"

"It was a good start. But you still try to bully me. You were bullying me all last week. It just wasn't physical bullying anymore. What do you want from me?"

"I want you to tell my mom that we've worked out our differences."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I want to not be grounded anymore and I know that you're having an affair with Sam. I know you don't want him hurt and you'll do what I say to keep him from being outed."

Kurt laughed out loud. "So, you've resorted to extortion. So, a level up from bullying - now you're actually blackmailing me. No can do, Finn. I'm not lying to Carole. And Sam and I aren't having an affair. Grow up. Good night, Finn."

Kurt hung up.

"That's insane," Thad said as he laughed.

"Welcome to the craziness that is McKinley High."

"Wow. It's like a teen soap opera."

"You have NO idea. No doubt Miss Nosy Pants, otherwise known as Rachel, was helping Finn spy. But why were they spying on Sam?"

"No idea."

"I'm going to call him."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt told Sam what Finn had threatened to do.

"Sam, I have no idea if Finn was following me. I'm so sorry. I don't want him to do anything to you, but I'm not going to lie to Carole and tell her that Finn and I have worked out our differences."

"Thanks for telling me. Honestly, I bet that Finn wasn't following you. I bet he was following Quinn. She knows I'm living here too. She goes to the same church as me and she had been helping me with babysitting Stevie and Stacey some evenings so I could work on my homework. I can't afford to fail school on top of everything else. It's hard enough to read because I'm dyslexic, but the two of them make it impossible."

"Where are your parents?"

"Oh, they're back now, but they went to a couple of job fairs out of town a couple of times and didn't back until late at night."

"Anyway, I'm sorry if any of this is somehow my fault. I didn't mean to lead anyone to the motel."

"I know. I'm not mad at you. Like I said, he's probably following Quinn afraid that she'll cheat on him like she did on him before and on me. And just so you know, the clothes all fit and the shoes too. And I got Stevie and Stacey clothes like you said. Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll call you again sometime soon. Or you can call me, if you want to talk."

"Okay. Thanks for telling me. See ya."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Dude, where are you?" was the first thing Kurt heard when he answered his phone Saturday morning.

"Florida."

"How are you in Florida?"

"There are these amazing things called airplanes. I got in one and flew here."

"So, when are you coming home?"

"I'm not. I'm staying here for spring break and then going back to Dalton."

"Why do you get to go to Florida for spring break while I had to work for Burt for free all day long every day over my spring break?"

"Well, for starters, I bought an airplane ticket with money that I earned from working all last summer while you were hanging around your house, or Puck's, playing video games. The other thing would be that I've never caused any property damage to someone else's home, so I don't owe anyone reparations that I need to spend my spring break working off."

"It's not fair. You get everything."

"Finn, this conversation is over." Kurt hung up and blocked Finn's number.

He called Burt. "Hey, Dad. I just wanted to let you know that I blocked Finn's number, so when he comes running to you to whine about how it's not fair that I got to go to Florida for spring break and how I turned my phone off or whatever, you'll know that you and Carole can still call me. I just blocked Finn because I'm tired of the complaining. I'm hanging up now. Have a good day, Dad." He hung up.

He turned back over. "Where were we?"

Thad pulled him closer and kissed him.

"I think we were going to get up and go get the swim shirt, a hat and some fresh orange juice and go for a walk on the beach."

"Perfect." He kissed Thad again, and then got out of bed. He opened the dresser and pulled out his swim trunks and went in the bathroom to change. He came out to find Thad in his swim trunks. They were both just staring at each other.

Thad spoke first, "God, you're gorgeous."

Kurt's response was, "Have you seen you?" as he ran his eyes up and down Thad.

Thad laughed. "Maybe I should have ordered a shirt online."

"Why?"

"Then I wouldn't be fighting the urge to run my hands all over you," he said quietly.

"Oh." Kurt walked over to him. "I'm not going to break if you touch me." He wrapped his arms around Thad's waist.

"You're sure?"

Kurt leaned forward and gently kissed him. "I'm sure."

Thad cautiously put his hands on Kurt's shoulders and gently slid his hands down Kurt's biceps. "You're so soft."

"Well, then all those beauty care products in our bathroom are working," he teased and kissed him again.

"Maybe I should try them."

"Maybe I can put them on you." Kurt kissed him again.

"Well, that would make it more interesting, for sure."

"Come on. Let's go outside and down to the beach. You can still touch me out there," he teased as he let go of Thad's waist. "What should we take with us?"

"There are waterproof pouches in the top drawer over there to put our IDs and stuff in. Then, just fasten the pin to the inside of your pocket and we're ready to go." He looked down. "And the water shoes or your feet will get sore, especially if you step on broken shells."

Kurt got his water shoes on and grabbed the pouch and put his phone, driver's license and debit card inside it pinned it in his pocket like Thad said. "Done!" he exclaimed. He was pushing up onto his toes while standing in place. The excitement was practically oozing off of him.

"You're adorable. Let's go." He took Kurt's hand and they went outside. Thad stuck his key ring in his pouch and they headed around the back of the building. "We'll just stay for a little bit, and then we'll walk up to one of the shops not far from here and get you a shirt and a hat to keep you from burning."

They had only walked about three-quarters of the way around the side of the building when Kurt gasped. "It's beautiful." He practically ran down the wooden steps, but he slowed himself enough not to actually yank Thad. They got to the sand and started walking toward the water. "Pictures just don't do it justice. It's amazing. Come on. Let's wade in the water."

Kurt's enthusiasm was contagious, as always. Thad couldn't keep himself from smiling while watching Kurt. They walked through the water, wading up to about their knees for about 10 minutes. Kurt wrapped his arm around Thad's waist and pulled him close. "Thanks for bringing me here. This is the most beautiful place."

Thad wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist as well and leaned in and kissed his cheek. "You're welcome. I'm really glad you came with me. You make everywhere you are brighter and better."

Kurt turned toward him and kissed him. "Shall we go hunting this shirt you say will prevent me from turning into a lobster?"

"Right this way." Thad took them to a surf shop he was familiar with and let Kurt choose. He went with a pale yellow figuring that it would be less hot than the darker colored shirts. He tried two on to find the right size. Thad bought it and took the tags off and handed it to Kurt to put on. "Let's go out shopping for just the right hat."

They went wandering around looking through shops. They stopped for a Cuban-style breakfast and some fresh squeezed orange juice. Kurt picked a medium-brimmed, fabric hat that could be washed. It seemed a much more practical choice because he would wear it at other times as well. And as silly as it looked, the string that fastened under the chin seemed like a perfect addition to the hat since the wind was pretty strong down by the water.

They walked back to the condo hand in hand talking and looking around. Kurt pointed out things that Thad had never noticed in the multitude of times he had been there.

Once they got back to the condo, Thad led Kurt around the side again. This time he unlocked the gate, locked it back once they were in, and led Kurt up underneath the porch.

"Walk this way," he said as he led Kurt over to the corner and pulled a wooden door open. "We need to shower out here before we go inside and shower. Put your shirt on the chair first. Don't worry no one can see us and we can leave our swim trunks on. Just turn pull the hose down and spray down your shorts in the front and the back to get most of the sand off."

"I don't think I have any sand in my shorts. We didn't sit down in the sand."

"Yet," he teased. "You can use these directions to deal with the future sand in your shorts. Come on, we can both fit."

Kurt let the door shut behind him and he stepped into the warm water.

"We just use water outside. The sand is mostly on our feet and shoes right now. Slip your shoes off and spray them out." Thad did his next. After that, he opened the shower door and let Kurt leave first and he followed. "Okay, I'm going to break the rules. Stay right here and I'll go get you a towel." He came right back. "I have to clean that water up quickly. I'll be right back. Step in the shower and take off your swim trunks and wrap the towel around you."

Thad came back a few minutes later with a stack of towels. "I should have brought these out before we left."

"So, we shower outside before we shower inside?"

"Basically, yeah. Here's how it goes - Take off your shirt and shoes. Take the shoes into the outdoor shower with you. Rinse every part of you off and your shoes. Wrap in the towel when you're done. Leave the swim trunks outside to dry with your shirt and shoes. Step inside into the small bathroom inside the back door and take a real shower. Wrap in a different towel and go get dressed."

"Seems like a lot of work."

"Not nearly as much as getting a plumber to come clean the sand out of your shower drain all the time. Plumbers are expensive."

"This sounds like a lecture you've heard many times."

"It is. And I promised to follow the rules and teach them to you so we could come here. My parents don't want any surprise plumbing bills because we skipped the outside shower."

"Got it."

"Since we didn't really get sand on us anywhere, we can just dry off and go put clothes on for now. Put on socks and your Chucks. Wait. You do know how to ride a bike, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. We're going to ride bikes to the market and get food to stock the house for a few days. Come on. Let's get dressed."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt watched Thad put the groceries away so he could learn where to put things. "You know, I could really get used to living here. It's simple. Ride a bike to buy groceries. Spend the day lying around watching the waves, reading a book, listening to music..." He moved to wrap his arms around Thad. "Snuggling, kissing..." He kissed the back of Thad's neck.

Thad turned in Kurt's arms and kissed him.

Kurt leaned in and kissed him again. "Let's go sit down and talk, okay?"

They moved into the living room and Thad sat in the oversized armchair. Kurt sat across from him on the couch.

Thad started, "You know, we could look around and see if there are any garages around here that will be hiring this summer. We could stay in the condo all summer and we could get jobs here and save $400 a month, plus utilities. My parents own the condo outright. I call it that because that's what my parents always call it, but it's really just a tiny house. It was my grandpa's and he gave it to my parents. We could live here rent-free. One round-trip ticket each would be a lot less than three months rent and utilities."

"It's something to think about. I talked to the headmaster about my educational fund. I can use it for tuition, room and board all billed from the school, but he doesn't see a way to get money from it to pay for rent. So, if I live off campus, I'll have to work to cover my living expenses. I need to make two very detailed budgets and see what is actually in my best interest financially and scholastically. I can't take on many hours of work each week and stay in the Warblers and take 6 AP classes. Right now, I'm leaning toward staying on campus again."

"Well, I'll help you in any way that I can - with figuring it all out. But I really think we should consider the option of staying here in the condo all summer for free."

Kurt got up and went and squished his way into the chair with Thad. He laid his head on Thad's shoulder. "I want to talk about something else first, okay?"

"Okay."

Kurt put his hand on Thad's chest. Thad covered Kurt's hand with his. Kurt bent his knees and pulled them up and settled half in Thad's lap.

"About six and a half weeks ago, you asked me if I was interested in casually dating. Then a little more than a week after that, you asked me if we could be exclusive, but still mostly casually dating. It's been about 5 weeks since then and this feels a lot more like serious dating than casual dating to me. You've literally turned my world upside down. I'm here sitting in a chair like this with you and totally comfortable with that. You've become my best friend and confidant. You're my roommate now. We keep talking about all this future stuff for us. Not for you and me, but for us. You said you weren't looking for something serious. I'm just a little confused and honestly a bit scared that I'm in this way deeper than I should be, if all you want is casual."

"At the time, that's what I thought I wanted. And then I really started to get to know you and you're just this amazing person. I never expected to find someone like you at this age. I mean, I know there's always those rare high school sweetheart stories. But I never thought I'd be one of them. I'll be honest. I liked you. But I had liked other guys or at least I thought I had. But you - just like you said - you've turned my world upside down. That first night you invited me to snuggle up with you in bed, when you held me, it just felt so right. In a world where so many things are messed up, being with you just feels right. It has surprised me as much as it sounds like it has surprised you. Please don't be scared or confused. You're right. This is a lot more to me than casual. This means everything to me."

Kurt kissed him.

Thad went on, "Honestly, when I think of future me, it's really future us, like you said. I know that neither one of us has decided on a college or completely decided on a major, but I can honestly see us going to the same school and being roommates, no matter where that school is. My parents aren't pushing me to study anything in particular and I think your dad isn't going to try to force a career choice on you. He knows that even if you pick the least-likely-to-make-money career that you can always be a mechanic like him and make decent money. I don't want to spend an enormous amount of money earning a degree. I'd rather go to a small college and pay a lot less and have money left over to start my life with than to spend every dime I have to get a degree. I know that I've grown up wealthy, but in a different way than a lot of people. I've traveled a lot, which is expensive, but I haven't spent my life owning three cars and living in a 6000 sq ft house that is mostly empty, but full of expensive furniture and what not. I've spent a lot of time in this house that we're in right now. My parents had the upstairs room and I slept on the couch. I'm not a fancy person looking to lead a hedonistic life. Now when I think about the future, I see us together enjoying whatever there is to find joy in. Like right now, it's this. Us just being close. I've never had that with anyone."

"Me neither. Being with you is just easy and I've never had that with anyone, ever. I think that's what makes it seem so right. We can just be when we're with each other."

"Let's move over to the couch. That will be a lot more comfortable," Thad suggested.

Kurt stood up and let Thad lie down on the couch. Kurt lay down facing him and they managed to get comfortable. "We can take a nap if you want. And we can go back down to the beach later."

"Sounds good." Kurt kissed him and cozied up and they fell asleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When Thad woke up, Kurt was just lying there looking at him. As he opened his eyes a second time, Kurt started kissing him.

"So, am I Sleeping Beauty?"

"I think more Sleeping Hunk," he teased.

"Hunk? That word is from way before we were born," he laughed.

"I couldn't think of anything else that fast. Sleeping Handsome just didn't sound right. The trick is the word beauty is a noun and all of the words to describe good-looking guys are adjectives. It's a linguistic challenge. Sleeping Babe? Sleeping ...? I can't think of anything right now."

"I think this is a definite oversight on the part of the English language," Thad teased Kurt.

"Oh, hush. The part you were supposed to focus on was that I think you're handsome." Kurt kissed him.

"Well, decent noun to use or not, you can wake me with kisses any time you want."

"Is that so?"

Thad kissed him. "It is."

"Are you ready to go back out to the beach? This time I want to build a sandcastle. Come on!" Kurt stood up and pulled Thad to his feet, kissing him quickly once he was up and pulling him back toward the back door.

Thad just smiled and couldn't resist how utterly adorable Kurt was when he was excited.

Kurt grabbed his swim trunks and stepped into the shower area and put them back on and laid his clothes on the table. He put his sun shirt back on and waited for Thad to put his swim trunks on.

Thad let them out the gate, locked it behind them and put the key in his pouch. Kurt was already 10 feet down the path. Thad jogged to catch up and grabbed his hand as they walked the rest of the way down to the water. After a few minutes of wading together, Kurt walked back toward the sand.

"How will we get any water up here so we can make a castle?"

Thad saw some kids a little ways down. "Give me a minute, okay?"

Thad jogged over to the kids and their mom. Kurt could see him talking to them and he came back with a bucket. "We can borrow it for five minutes. Go get some water."

Kurt went down and brought back several buckets full of water and got an area of the sand wet so they could build. Thad took the bucket back and came back to help him.

"Tomorrow, we're going to go buy some sand toys," he leaned over and kissed Kurt and started to help him mold the sand.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"You are a really good cook. This is delicious."

Kurt smiled. "I'm glad you like it."

"So, I have a question for you. It's something I only brought up once and kind of joking, but now I'm thinking it might be a serious option."

"What?"

"Dalton offers sports scholarships. If you are really that good of a kicker, you could probably get a good scholarship because we haven't had a decent kicker since I've been at Dalton."

"That's not a bad idea. When are the football tryouts?"

"I haven't the slightest idea, but I bet it's on the school calendar. Let's look it up after we eat."

"I wonder how much the sports scholarships cover."

"From what I know, everything. I mean the school only takes kids with good academic records anyway, and then to find good athletes that were already good students is hard to find."

"Well, then I'm seriously going to consider playing football again. Especially since I won't be in any danger in the locker room at Dalton."

"You were in danger?"

"The football team nailed the furniture to my roof, remember?"

"I hadn't forgotten. Just a lapse in connecting the dots. Why did you play at all then?"

"To save face, basically." He told Thad the story of Burt finding him with Tina and Brittany in the basement.

"So, it was just fortunate for you that you were actually good at kicking?"

"Well, the fact that the previous kicker was absolutely awful didn't set the bar that high when I tried out. But it did help that I was actually good at it."

"You don't really like football though."

"No, but I will be incredibly enthusiastic about it if I can go to Dalton for free just for kicking footballs," Kurt laughed. "Don't forget that I was a cheerleader. I can be super enthusiastic about sports without really caring one little bit."

"Why didn't you continue to cheer this school year? I would have thought that in the public school hierarchy that being a cheerleader would have kept the football team from being able to bully you."

"It would have. I struggled with that decision. I was only on the Cheerios for part of second semester last year. The coach had weekly weigh-ins and she forced me to lose 5 pounds, which was really hard to do when she was making me work out so much that I was gaining quite a bit of muscle. She made us drink this awful concoction and she watched what I ate at school. I already struggle with OCD tendencies and by the end of the year, I was really on the verge of developing an eating disorder. When I considered continuing with the team this fall, I had worked myself back away from the eating issues over the summer and I just couldn't bring myself to put myself through the potential outcome of being under her watchful eye all the time and becoming anorexic."

"That was a good choice. It came at a high price though with the bullying escalating."

"I know. Given all of the variables, I don't think there was a 'right' option for me at McKinley. I tried being 'straight'. I tried being on the football team. I cheered. I'm just too different. I care about my future. I want to learn. I don't fit in. I can't blend in or pass there. People had already pigeonholed me. I was teased from the time I was really young. All you have to do is have one tea party at one play date in second grade and all the boys will shun you from then until they run you out of town."

"You would have fit right in when I was in second grade. All 8 year-old boys know how to sit properly for tea in England."

"Well, I didn't know it was a girly thing to do. My mother's parents were French. She was born there, but came to the States when she as a teen. She spoke French and she made tea and finger foods and it was something we did together. I just thought everyone's mother did that. I was a little kid. But I was the weird kid that spoke a weird language, who had tea parties, and thought he was a princess or a fairy. The epithets became more vulgar as I got older."

"I can imagine."

They finished eating in silence. When they were done, they washed everything and went for a walk. They headed back to watch the sunset from the beach, even though the sun set on the opposite side of the water.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They showered outside, then inside and put on boxers to sleep in and got in bed.

"That was so beautiful. It's just amazing here."

"I'm glad you came with me. It's a lot more fun with you here."

"I'm glad I came with you too. Do you want me to put some of my lotion on you like I said I would earlier?"

"Sure."

Kurt went and got it out of the bathroom. "How do you want me to do this?"

"I'll just turn over and you can put it on me?" Thad turned over and moved his pillow and lay flat on his stomach on the bed. Kurt stood near the edge of the bed and put some of the lotion on his hands and leaned over to rub it into Thad's arm.

"You're going to get a backache doing it like that. Just sit on my back and do it."

"Okay. Scoot over toward the middle a little then. I don't have anywhere to put my knee on this side right now."

"Oh. Sorry." He scooted over.

"Now, I can fit." He started again.

"That feels really good. You can do this any time you want," he teased. "I'll have the softest skin ever because this is amazing."

Kurt did his other arm as well. When he finished, he asked, "Do you want me to do your back?"

"Yes, please."

Kurt was nervous.

Thad could feel Kurt's hesitation. "It's okay with me. I want you to."

"Okay." Kurt began to rub the lotion into Thad's back. As he massaged the lotion in, he relaxed more and more.

"As soon as I return to a corporeal form that isn't boneless, can I do you?"

"Sure," Kurt laughed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After Thad had finished giving Kurt a massage, he put the lotion away. On the way back to the bed, he turned some music on set to play for an hour, turned off the lights, climbed in bed, and lay down on his side. Kurt was lying on his side facing the center of the bed as well.

"At dinner, you sort of shut down when I was talking about my childhood. Should I not bring it up? Did I upset you?"

"Yes, it upset me because people have just been extraordinarily mean to you and somehow you are still this amazing kind and gentle person. Sometimes, I'm just sort of stunned into silence. But I don't want you to feel like you shouldn't share whatever you want to with me. It's just that sometimes, it just makes me feel sick and I want to cry. It just rips at my heart to know that so many people have treated you so badly and sometimes the hardest part about it is that you are so blasé about it." Thad scooted closer and caressed Kurt's cheek.

Kurt reached up and placed his hand over Thad's. He pulled Thad's hand and placed it over his heart and covered it again with his hand, holding Thad's hand in place. "Maybe this will help you. There's only so much anger one and sadness one child can hold inside. I let it out through music, performing, and working hard to be able to move away to a place where I wasn't hated for being myself and by holding tight to the thought that one day, somewhere, somehow I would meet someone who would be kind and gentle, a man who could love me, even with all of my flaws. And a lot of that has happened in the last 5 months, maybe all of it."

Kurt took a deep breath.

"Maybe you see me retelling the stories and it sounds like I'm blasé, when really it's just that, now that it's over, it's just ancient history. The 8 year old who lost his mother and became the forever-tormented fairy isn't living in that story any more. There's a sequel. And in it, his tormentors no longer have any power over him and he's in Florida with his very handsome, amazing boyfriend who seems to be completely okay with the fact that he has 10 beauty care products, likes to watch TV shows that most teens don't care for, listens to music from other eras, and reads Vogue - along with a long list of other things that other people had tormented him about in the first book."

Thad kissed him. "You're right. You're completely right."

"Some of the characters from the first book keep trying to make a reappearance in the sequel, but this time the main character isn't a child anymore. He has more control, more abilities, more support."

Kurt kissed Thad. He let go of Thad's hand and wrapped his hand behind Thad's neck and ran his fingers through the hair at the base of his neck and deepened the kiss, which continued until they were both breathless.

Thad kissed Kurt gently and said, "We can talk more tomorrow. Let's get some sleep." He nudged Kurt to turn over and be the little spoon and he snuggled up behind him and held him close until they fell asleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning Kurt woke up to guitar music and an empty bed. He went in search of Thad and found that he was the source of the music. He was sitting on the back porch playing and quietly humming along.

"That's beautiful. I haven't heard that one before."

Thad looked up and smiled and kept playing. "It's new."

Kurt sat down to listen. When Thad had finished, Kurt said, "You left your guitar at Dalton. I didn't expect to hear you play this week. I would have missed it though, so I'm glad you have one here."

"It was in the downstairs closet."

"Will you play the song again? I want to hear the whole thing."

Thad played it again.

"It's really beautiful."

'Thanks." Thad put the guitar back in its case and stuck it inside the back door. He pulled Kurt up and into a hug. "Good morning, gorgeous."

Kurt kissed him and said, "Good morning, handsome. I see you've put out a hammock this morning as well."

"Ah, nothing gets past your eagle eyes. Come on and lie in it with me. We can both fit."

"Show me how to get in. I don't want to end up on the ground."

Thad demonstrated and then got back out. "I'll hold the edge so it doesn't move so much. You get in first and then I'll get in."

After a fair bit of maneuvering, they were both lying in the hammock.

"I think your idea of staying here all summer has a lot of merit. I think I need to work on a budget for all of my options for the summer and next school year. There's one that's at the bottom of my list, but still a possibility."

"How about we start with the best case scenario and do everything to make it work before we talk about the worst case scenario."

"The best case scenario would be if you're right and I could get a scholarship for football."

"Then, let's start with that. I know it's spring break, but maybe the football coach checks his email anyway. Email him from your school account and ask him if there are any scholarships available for kickers for the fall."

"I'll do that, but you have to help me out of this hammock to do it."

Thad helped him out and climbed back in. Kurt came right back with his phone and got back in the hammock. He searched the school website to find the football coach's name and email address. He wrote a short email and sent it.

"Done."

"Okay, then let's just give him time to reply. Let's just enjoy the rest of today." Thad kissed him and took his hand and they closed their eyes to enjoy the breeze and the sound of the water.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Since they spent so much time outside in the hammock, they opted for brunch and then headed out to buy sand castle building tools.

They came back and switched into their water shoes. Kurt grabbed his hat and they headed down to the beach. They spent a couple hours totally goofing around - building and destroying and rebuilding.

"This is way more fun that it probably ought to be, given how old I am," Kurt said.

"Nah, we have no obligation to stop enjoying simple pleasures just because we're not going to be 'children' anymore. I say we play and have fun as long as we're able to. Who cares what anyone else thinks?"

"Good point." Kurt got up and moved a few feet away from his sandcastle and lay down on his back in the sand. He put his arms out to his side and made a sand angel."

Thad saw what he was doing and lay down next to him and made one too.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The two of them spent the rest of the week enjoying the beach and their time together. They didn't do anything spectacular or particularly noteworthy. What they did was grow a lot closer. They spent a lot of time talking about difficult subjects and learning a lot about each other.

It wasn't until the final Saturday of spring break that Kurt got a response from the football coach. He indicated that a scholarship was possible, but that he would have to see Kurt in action before he would discuss specifics.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sunday morning arrived and they were both sad to see their holiday coming to an end. They had washed all of their clothes the night before. They had decided to get up early and spend some time walking along the beach before they got ready for the day.

When they returned to the house, they showered and got dressed in regular clothes and shoes. They left their water stuff out to dry and went for a bike ride around the area. They came back a little before lunch to find a big surprise. Thad's parents were sitting on the front porch.

"What are you two doing here?" Thad asked as they walked the bikes up to the yard.

"That's not much of a greeting, Thad," his mom teased. She stood up and walked out into the yard. She was around 5'5" with wavy black, slightly longer than shoulder length hair and warm tawny skin.

"Sorry, Mom. You just surprised me." He hugged her.

"Kurt, this is my mom, Ellen. Mom, this is Kurt."

"It's nice to meet you, honey." She hugged him.

"You too."

By then, Thad's dad had come into the yard as well. "I'm Donovan," he said as he extended his hand to Kurt. Donovan was about the same height as Kurt, maybe just slightly taller. He had fair skin, but not quite as fair as Kurt. He had thick, light brown wavy hair that was cut in a business-like short style.

"It's nice to meet you, sir."

"Why don't you two put the bikes back away and we'll all go have lunch somewhere?"

Thad and Kurt came back around to the front a few minutes later. They walked to a nice open-air café. They were seated and looked through the menu board on the back wall. They ordered as soon as the waitress stopped by.

"So, have you two enjoyed your week?"

"It's really beautiful here. I had never seen the ocean before. Well, I'd never really been out of Ohio before. But it's fantastic here. I could live here."

"We love it here too. We usually spend as much of the summer here as we can. We're here for a few days this time and then we're conducting business in Orlando mid-week. Once that's done, we'll be going back to Seattle for a few weeks," Ellen said.

"Are you and dad planning to spend this summer here?" Thad asked.

"Part of it at least, whenever we can manage it, why?"

"Well, we're considering our options for this summer. I know I told you on the phone. But staying here would be a good choice financially since we wouldn't have to pay rent. We're just thinking about it."

"I'm not going to spend the summer in Lima. Maybe Westerville or north Columbus or here. Definitely not Lima."

"I know the condo is pretty small, but I think we could all stay there whenever we're in town," Donovan said.

"Yes, I'm sure we could make it work somehow," Ellen agreed.

They spent the rest of lunch talking about what Kurt and Thad had been doing at school and while they were on vacation and what little Thad's parents could tell them about what their jobs entailed.

By the time they got back to the condo, Thad and Kurt had to pack their swim clothes, finish the rest of their packing, and call a taxi to head to the airport.

Thad hugged his parents right before he got into the cab. They waved as they drove off.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"That was a nice surprise. I'm glad you got to see them, even if it was only for a few hours. It's too bad they couldn't have come a few days earlier."

"It was good to see them. I do miss them in a way, but it's been like this for so long that I guess I'm just used to keeping in contact with them on the phone or Skype. But I did enjoy seeing them."

Kurt got a call from Burt.

"Hello?"

"Okay. Alright."

"Dad, bring my cleats from my closet. I need them for school."

"Okay. Bye."

"My dad is going to be in Columbus when we get there. He's picking us up."

"Okay."

"It's weird. But there's not much I can do about it. I guess we'll see what he wants when we get there."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Good evening, boys."

"Hey, Dad." Kurt put their suitcase in the backseat. Thad climbed in the back, pointing for Kurt to ride up front with his dad. Kurt opened the front door and got in. Burt got back into the driver's seat.

"So, you picking us up is a surprise."

"Well, I need to talk to you."

"Okay. Talk."

"Are you sure you don't want to wait until we're alone?" Burt asked.

"I can't really think of anything that Thad doesn't already know. Unless you're going to tell stories about me when I was a kid that I don't remember."

"Alright, then. But don't say I didn't warn you. This has been an insane week at McKinley. Sue restarted the school newspaper, but it's more like a tabloid. Reach in the glove box."

Kurt pulled out what Burt was referring to. "It's called ' _The Muckraker_ '? That hardly sounds like something with journalistic integrity. What did you want me to see?"

"Look on the second page."

"Oh, great. Not only was Finn spying on us, he took photos. Or someone did. I don't think he has a camera that nice."

"You knew about this?"

"I knew Finn was spying on someone. Neither one of us was sure which one of us was the original target, or if we were the intended target at all. Sam speculated that Finn was spying on Quinn, afraid that she was cheating on him again."

"Read the article."

A couple of minutes later, Kurt responded, "No shock there. Finn tried to blackmail me with this information a week ago Friday."

"What do you mean 'blackmail'?"

"He told me that if I didn't tell Carole that he and I had worked out our differences that he would 'out' Sam. I called Sam and told him. I told Finn that I wouldn't lie to Carole. Here's what I suspect - Rachel helped Finn, JBI followed Rachel, and he saw them taking photos of me and Sam and he took some too. But there are other possible alternatives."

"So, you admit you were at that sleazy motel with Sam."

"Sure. I was there. So was Thad. I'm not at liberty to say why to anyone but you. And I haven't talked to you about it yet. But it's nothing nefarious."

"Well, the article said that Quinn had been going there with him too."

"That's true, but not for the reasons that are being stated. Sam is not sleeping with Quinn."

"You aren't upset by this. I am really confused."

"Oh, I'm plenty upset. Just not about my reputation. All of the kids at McKinley think that gay men are sexual predators and that they have sex all the time. So, people writing articles indicating that I'm having sex with someone isn't exactly shocking or newsworthy. I am however really upset for Sam. He doesn't need this. The kids are vicious to gay people. I just hope he didn't end up attacked over it."

"I see."

"So, you drove all the way to Columbus to pick me up because you thought I needed some kind of intervention? That I was sleeping with Sam when I already have a boyfriend that I told you I am NOT sleeping with?"

"Well, you've been in Florida alone all week. How am I supposed to know what you have and haven't been doing?"

"Dad! Enough. Whenever I am ready, I'll act on that readiness. I am not, however, going to wear a t-shirt or get a tattoo that says 'sexually active' or something ridiculous. My life, my body, my choice, my PRIVACY."

"There's no need to yell."

"There seems to be because I can't seem to get it through your head that I am almost 18 and I am not a slut, or manwhore, or promiscuous or whatever the word of the day is. You want to keep this up? Why don't you tell me everything sexual you had done by the time you were one month from being 18 that you had told YOUR parents that you had done?"

Thad laughed.

"Seriously. Tell me exactly what you had done that you had told your parents about."

"I get it."

"Really? You really get it this time? You need to stop. Yes, I would love to have a good reputation. But you do realize that it's not possible to be gay AND have a good reputation in Lima, right? People make up lies about me all the time. The only reason I'm upset about this particular lie is because it affects Sam and Quinn. Now, Sam's reputation is being tarnished. Now people will think that he's either having a ménage-à-trois with me and Quinn or he's doing us one at a time. All while Quinn is supposedly cheating on Finn, and I am supposedly cheating on Thad - which doesn't matter really since none of them know Thad."

"This whole thing is nuts. I'm calling Finn and telling him to bring Carole to meet us somewhere."

"Have them go to Marysville, Dad, to that buffet. I know it's out of the way to going to Dalton, but it's closer than going all the way back to Lima. We'll get there about the same time. And after dinner, I will tell you why Sam, Quinn and I have been at that motel. I'll call, you drive."

Kurt called instead of Burt, and then they rode in silence for a while.

"Did you have a nice time in Florida?"

"I did. It was great. Really relaxing. Probably the first full week of my life without any of the kind of stuff we were talking about earlier."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been dealing with this kind of stuff for years, Dad. It's the same song, different verse."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When they arrived at the buffet, Kurt told Burt that he and Thad would be back in 10 minutes. They went for a walk.

They walked far enough away from the restaurant that they found a place where no one was around and Kurt practically fell into Thad. "Please hold me for a few minutes before we walk back."

Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him close, occasionally rubbing his hand up and down Kurt's back.

Finn and Carole arrived about five minutes after Kurt and Thad got back to the restaurant.

They got a table for six people. Thad sat on the end, Kurt was in the middle, with Burt on the other end. On the other side of the table, Finn was across from Kurt and Carole was across from Burt.

They all ordered their drinks quickly.

"So, I summoned Carole and Finn here because I want the feuding to end. This meeting was my idea, so I will be starting. Finn, please tell us who you were following when you saw me and Sam at the motel."

"Quinn, originally."

"Go on."

"I was concerned that she was cheating on me. Rachel went with me to spy on her. We followed her to the motel. We went back a few evenings in a row to see if she went back, but instead, we saw you there with Sam."

"Okay. You saw me and Quinn at different times at a motel with Sam. Why did you automatically assume that my presence and Quinn's presence there meant that the two of us were sleeping with Sam?"

"Dude, what else to people do at that place?"

"Why would you know what goes on at that place? Is that where you took Santana?"

"Dude!"

"Hey, you're the one that got information about my supposed sex life written about in the school newspaper of a school I don't even go to anymore."

"Finn, would you care to explain?" Carole asked.

"Not really."

Kurt intervened. "Let's just leave it at the fact that the motel is the cheapest one in town and gets frequented by teenagers wanting to hook up when their own homes are unavailable for such activities."

"Yeah - that," Finn said.

"So, you were following Quinn because you don't trust her. I can see why. She cheated on you before and you cheated WITH her and stole her away from Sam."

"Finnegan," Carole said exasperatedly.

"Dude."

"Look, Finn. I'm done with all of this. You tried to blackmail me again this past week. I'm putting all of my cards on the table. I want you to specifically tell me to my face why you are so upset with me."

"You get everything."

"That's insane. Unless 'everything' means hundreds of slushies, multitudes of dumpster tosses, phone calls suggesting that I kill myself, notes in my locker suggesting the same thing. Stop me when I get to the part that makes you jealous of me. Being called names, having my lunch tray knocked out of my hands. Oh, wait. I know what it is, the fact that I hold the record for the most swirlies received in one school year."

"Never mind."

"No seriously. You are jealous that I drive a nicer vehicle than you." Kurt looked at Burt and Carole. "Did you two explain that to him?"

"Not yet."

"Well, by all means, please do. Or I will."

Carole started, "Burt didn't pay any more for Kurt's Navigator than I paid for your truck."

"What do you mean?"

Burt answered, "She means that when I bought the Navigator, it didn't run. I paid very little for it because it was completely dead. Kurt fixed it. He did all of the work on it. Now, I did cover the cost of the parts he needed to get it running, but he spent hours and hours working on it."

"You could do the same, Finn. You could take your truck down to the garage, let Dad teach you how to fix it and it would run a lot better. If you want it to look nicer, use the tools at the shop and buff the dents out. Save up some money and have it painted."

"I don't have any money."

"That's what jobs are for, Finn," Kurt said sarcastically. "Get one."

"Then I won't have any free time."

"Yes. The life of an adult - lots of freedom, very little free time. That's how things are, Finn. You're only a couple of months younger than me. It's time to grow up. Stop being jealous of what you think I have that you don't. Get a job, buy your own stuff, learn how to fix your own truck."

"Whatever."

"About going to Dalton," Kurt started.

Burt interrupted. "Kurt going to Dalton is not affecting your available cash flow, Finn. When Kurt went to enroll, they gave him a bunch of tests to take. They were placement tests, but they were also aptitude tests for potential scholarships. What Kurt doesn't know, because I never told him, is that he received an academic scholarship. When I had to use our honeymoon money to pay his bill -that was because in order for him to move in, his bill had to be paid in full. But when the scores came back and he received a scholarship, the money I had paid was applied toward this semester's expenses. I also cashed in a CD I had and replaced the money I had taken out of our honeymoon fund. Money that I had saved before I met you and your mother - money that's there in case of an emergency. Not money to blow on new gaming systems or new vehicles when the ones we have are still functional. A real emergency, like when I had to have our entire roof replaced due to teenage vandalism. Or a real emergency like someone threatens to kill my kid so he has to go to another school."

"He got to go to Florida for spring break while I had to stay home and work for free."

"Finn, honey. Kurt paid for his own airplane ticket. He paid for whatever he did while he was there. We didn't give him any money for the trip."

Kurt spoke next. "I don't get why you are so jealous. You got to move into a big fancy house when you refused to share my basement room in the old house. You live there 24/7. I get to visit. Think about that Finn. I get to visit my new house. It doesn't even feel like home and you three have lived there for what, like five months. I've spent a couple of weeks at Christmas and a lot of Friday nights. That's it. You have all of your friends. I had to go make new friends in a town I had never been to and live on my own. What part of that is so enviable?"

Finn didn't say anything.

"You have a big TV in the family room with a gaming system and a bunch of games. I can watch the TV in the common room on my floor or I can sit in my dorm room and watch something on my laptop."

"I guess I didn't think about that stuff."

"I guess not. This isn't a contest of which one of us our parents spend more money on. Maybe think of it like this. If a person has a big dog and a regular size cat, which one does he love more?"

"How would I know?"

"Which one does he spend more money on?"

"I have no idea."

"Which one costs more to feed?"

"A big dog."

"So, does he love the big dog more? Is the cat being treated unfairly?"

"Not necessarily."

"Exactly. I think, to be honest, our parents spend more money on you because I never ask them for anything. I work and I save my money for things I need or want. I don't own a gaming system. I don't go out to eat that often. I don't go to the movies often either. I don't go to arcades. And if I do any of those things I pay for it myself. Do you?"

"Mom gives me money for stuff like that."

"You eat more than I do. So, I'm sure they spend more buying you food, but does that make me think that they love you more or make me jealous that they spend more money on you? To answer, no it doesn't."

"Okay."

"Think about this. Dad paid for the uniforms, he paid whatever part of my school bills that weren't covered by the scholarship, and they pay for me to eat when I'm at home. What have they paid for that were your expenses?"

"Um."

Carole spoke up, "I paid for you to go to football camp. I paid for your uniform and your cleats. We pay for you to eat at home, like Kurt said. I bought your gaming system and the games. I give you money pretty much every time you ask for it. Do you realize that Kurt has never asked me for any money."

"He probably asks Burt."

"Nope. He doesn't ask me for money either," Burt stated.

"Still, he was a big tattle tale and I'm still grounded."

"Well, Finn, your actions have consequences. You're going to be grounded for even longer over this school newspaper thing. You and I will be going to the school and there will be a retraction printed. You can't undo the damages you've done to Sam's reputation though."

"Last fall, you warned him away from singing with me to supposedly protect him. But it doesn't seem like it was for his protection since five months later, you participated in a fake outing. You just made the whole school think that he is gay or bi. What was the real reason you didn't want us to sing together?"

"Well, Rachel said that if he didn't win the duets competition that he might not stay in Glee. It was her idea to throw the contest. That's why we did that awful duet."

"So, fake outing him when you need him to have enough people to compete at Nationals makes sense how? And Quinn? If both of them leave, you'll be down to 10 and that's not enough. Are you going to make band members sing? Get Karofsky to join?"

"Actually Mr. Schue wants him to. He thinks it would be good for him."

"I'm sure it could be. Music is a good way to let out your frustrations instead of threatening to kill people when you're angry."

"Yeah."

"Look, Finn. I'm through with all of this. I am not getting more money from our parents than you are with the exception of my schooling, which is not being paid for in a way that affects the amount of money you get from our parents. And you need to think about the fact that the money they're spending is paying to feed me three meals a day, seven days a week. They feed you. Paying money to my school for feeding me isn't unreasonable. You need to stop hassling me. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

"I had hoped that we could be friends. Maybe we still can be. I don't know. But I'd at least like to not be at odds all the time. You don't have to spend any time with me. I can stop coming home on Friday nights. I'm not going to be home for the summer either and I am going back to Dalton next fall. You never did explain to me why it was so important to Santana for me to come back to McKinley."

"I don't understand either. I told her that I wanted you to come back, but that's when I thought that I could get a new truck if our parents quit paying for you to be at Dalton. I'm not sure why she started the Bully Whips, other than she likes to be bossy."

"Well, whatever her reason, it isn't a good enough one for me to leave a school that I like, where I have made new friends, and no one threatens me or hurts me at all."

"She knows you wanted to go to New York."

"And I'm going. The Warblers are singing at a national a cappella competition the week before New Directions is going to Nationals."

"Oh."

"He's second lead," Thad interjected.

"Something I would never get in New Directions. That's me being the equivalent of you with Rachel."

"I didn't know that, Kurt. Congratulations, honey," Carole said.

"Thanks. I doubt it will be televised or anything, but I'm sure the teachers going with us will record it. I'll get a copy and send it to you. We're singing four songs."

"I'd like that, honey."

By this point in time, they had long since finished their meals and the waitress had been around three times asking them if they needed anything else.

Kurt wanted to wrap things up. "So, Finn, is everything settled now? I'm actually okay with you pretending that I don't exist. I do not want to be part of the New Directions drama anymore. At all. Ever. So, if I see you at the house, I see you. If I see you on holidays, then I'll see you. If not, just leave me out of the drama. I'm not there. I won't be there. I'm not part of it."

"Fine. You're not part of New Directions anymore."

"Thank you. I will unblock your phone number so long as you don't use it to pester me anymore. Anyone who wants to call me, knows how. And by not being part of it means that you don't talk about me or this to them. You understand that, right? My life is not news or gossip material."

"Got it."

"Good. Anyone else have anything to add?"

"I found this whole thing to be really depressing," Carole said. "That's how I feel about it. I never wanted to run Kurt out of his own home or chase him away from Burt."

"Carole, I'm not upset with you. You've never made me feel unwelcome. This outcome was inevitable. I wasn't planning to stay in Lima past graduation anyway. It's just happening a little sooner than I had anticipated. If you ever want to talk to me, just call. And Westerville isn't in Siberia. It's 90 minutes or so from Lima."

Burt didn't say anything about what they had talked about. He was ready to leave. "Well, let's get out of here. It's late and I have to drive these two back to Dalton and then I have to drive back to Lima."

"Finn, you take my car home and stay there when you get there. I'm going to go with Burt to Westerville."


	4. Chapter 4

Carole was the first to speak in the car. "I'm so sorry about all of that with Finn. I just don't know what's gotten into him."

"Do you want my honest answer? My really honest answer?"

"I'm not sure that I want it, but I think I need to hear it."

"When you married my dad, Finn's social standing went up at school. People always figured that my dad was rich. He owned a business. I wore nice clothes. I drove an expensive vehicle. That supposed social standing never helped me because I'm the resident fag. But when Finn became part of the family, we moved and bought an even nicer house. My bet is that the other guys at school moved him up a tier on the social ladder. My guess is they ragged on him and said things like 'Why do you still drive that junker when your new stepdad has the money to get you a nice truck?' And 'Why don't you cover the cost of the pizzas for everyone? You've got the money to do it now.'"

"You think so?" Carole asked.

"I wouldn't be the least bit surprised. I'm not being critical and I was never invited to your old place, but when I asked Finn about colors and stuff last spring, he told me his room was decorated with cowboy wallpaper. I'm not sure if you just hadn't redecorated because he never asked or what, but I get the idea that his friends coming to our new place would see it as a big step up from his old room."

"Probably. I never redecorated because he didn't seem to care and I figured why waste money."

"I don't know how Finn's friends acted when they came to your place, but when they come to ours, they act like it's a free for all. They raid the kitchen eating everything in sight. They act like there's an endless supply of drinks and snacks. I know that stuff is expensive and Finn never does anything to cover the cost of all of the stuff they eat. I don't know if he even thinks about it. But I can be pretty sure that our house is the destination of choice. Free food and drinks, big TV, nice gaming system."

"I see."

"And add to it that he went back to dating Quinn. She likes the finer things in life. I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't suggesting that they go someplace nicer than Breadstix. I was an easy target. I always have been. Finn thought you were paying a lot of money for me to go to Dalton. He figured if he could make that stop, that he could get better things, like a nicer truck."

"Interesting hypothesis."

"He has never been able to see the real issues that I deal with. Karofsky threw a slushie at Finn once. He got bullied for a short period of time last year when people thought that he was the one that had gotten Quinn pregnant. He actually told Rachel that he could help me more by staying at the top of the heap at McKinley than he could by actually confronting Karofsky last fall. Not that I wanted him to do anything because I didn't. I didn't ask anyone to do anything."

"He thinks you bring it on yourself," Carole stated.

"Yes, I know he does. This conversation could go on forever, but we've gotten off track. I think Finn is probably being pressured at school about not having nicer stuff. Why doesn't he have the newest, coolest basketball shoes? Did he get the new video game? And I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if those same people don't point out the fact that I drive a nice car and I'm going to an expensive prep school and isn't it unfair for poor Finn."

"I'm going to work on getting to the bottom of the issues," Carole said.

"Dad, why did you never tell me I have a scholarship at Dalton?"

"I didn't want to put more pressure on you. If you didn't maintain a certain grade point average, you'd lose it for next year. I didn't want you to pressure yourself into - well."

"I get it, Dad. I'm better now. Really. If I had known that I had a scholarship, it would have actually made this last month way less stressful."

"The other issue we need to discuss is that I think you think that there's a lot more money in the fund that was set up for your college expenses than there really is. You came in guns-a-blazing about using the money to pay to stay at Dalton. It was already a rough day and I couldn't bring myself to talk about it then."

"But with the scholarship, would it work?"

"I don't know. We need to sit down with the advisor that oversees it and get the details."

"How much was invested initially?"

"$50,000."

"Okay. Find out how much is in it now. I'm working on some other options as well. I'll go to public school in Westerville and work in a repair shop there before I'll go back to McKinley."

"I'm sorry things have been so bad for you that you'd consider that a viable option."

"Me too."

Kurt was sitting in the middle space in the backseat. He leaned his head over onto Thad's shoulder after the conversation ended. Thad had been holding his hand the whole trip.

He sat back up. "What I'm going to tell you can't be told to anyone else, okay?"

"Okay."

"It's why Quinn and I were at the motel. And you seriously cannot let Finn find out. He's done enough damage as it is."

"Got it."

"Sam's family is living there - all five of them in one of those tiny motel rooms. His dad lost his job and neither of his parents has been able to get another job in Lima. Sam's been working delivering pizzas in Westerville on the weekends and that's the only money that's keeping them in the hotel. I took him a box of my old clothes that were suitable for Sam and a box of toys for his little brother and sister. And I gave him money to take them to Goodwill to buy them a few outfits. The bank locked them out of their house and kept all of their stuff. You fixed Sam's truck up this last week didn't you? How much were the parts for that? I told you I would pay for them."

"Yes, I fixed his truck. It's in good shape now. Don't worry about the cost for the parts. Finn did more damage to Sam than I could repay by fixing his truck for free. So, the poor kid is homeless, the only money provider for his whole family, and now the whole school thinks he's sleeping with you and Quinn?"

"Yep, his life is right up at the top of the suck-o-meter."

"So, why did you tell me this? Other than to explain what happened."

"I want you to find a job for his dad. I think the Lima 'outsiders aren't welcome' mentality is keeping people from hiring either one of his parents."

"Fred at the auto parts store is looking for someone full time."

"Perfect. Use your influence and get Fred to hire Mr. Evans. I have no idea what Mr. Evans used to do, but it paid well enough to send Sam to private school when they lived in Tennessee. At this point, I think he'd sweep floors to get his family out that sleazy motel. Wouldn't you? Stacey is about 5 or 6 and Stevie is a couple of years older. That place is not the kind of place for little kids to be living."

"I'll find a job for him. Tell Sam to have his dad come by the shop tomorrow. I'll be there all day."

"Thank you."

"It's the least I can do given what Finn did to that poor kid. I hope no one's been treating him the way they treated you."

"I hope not either."

No one said anything for a while. Kurt texted Sam.

Carole broke the silence. "So tell me about Florida. What did you guys do?"

They spent the rest of the car ride talking about their trip while Carole looked through Kurt's photos.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They unlocked their room and went inside. Thad put the suitcase on the unused bed. Kurt put the cleats in his closet and walked directly into the bathroom and in a few minutes, Thad heard the water running. He emptied their suitcase and slid it under the unused bed. He pulled out pajamas and opened the bathroom door and laid them on the counter for Kurt to find when he got out of the shower.

A few minutes later, Kurt came out of the bathroom in the pajamas. He didn't say a word and walked directly to his bed and flopped down. Thad took his own pajamas into the bathroom and quickly showered and changed. He turned the light off and lay down next to Kurt and took his hand.

He heard Kurt's breathing change and he knew that he had fallen asleep. After about 10 minutes, Thad got up as quietly as he could and grabbed the comforter on the other bed and covered Kurt up and lay back down next to him and covered himself up and went to sleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, Thad woke up with Kurt wrapped around him sleeping on his chest. He wished they could stay like that, but they both had to get ready for class.

"Kurt, we have to get up," he said gently. He pulled Kurt's hand up to his mouth and kissed it. "Wake up."

Kurt stretched a bit and then held on tighter instead of letting go. Thad laughed.

"We have to get dressed and go eat, so we aren't late to first period."

"Stupid first period," Kurt mumbled. Thad laughed again.

"You have French first period. You like first period. Come on. Let's get up."

"Not yet. Kisses."

"You get up so we can both get dressed and we'll kiss until we have to leave at 7:00 to make it to breakfast before they stop serving food."

Kurt got up and took his clothes in the bathroom and was back less than 10 minutes later. Thad was waiting right outside the door and came back out less than 5 minutes later. Kurt had his satchel sitting ready to go. Thad put his bag next to it. Kurt got the kisses he wanted.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad and Kurt made it to breakfast in time to get their food. They sat down at a table with some of the other Warblers. People were talking about what they did over spring break. Kurt was still tired and listened rather than talk. He felt like some of them were looking at him strangely, but he figured it was just because he was tired and not participating in the conversation.

At lunch, he grabbed a to-go sack lunch and went to see the football coach. He knocked on his office door and waited to be invited in.

"Come in," he heard. He opened the door, went in and shut the door behind him.

"Coach Moreland, I'm Kurt Hummel. I sent you an email over spring break about scholarship opportunities."

"Yes, Kurt. Please come in and have a seat. I looked at your file. You already have an academic scholarship covering your tuition."

"Yes, sir. But my family is struggling to pay for my room and board. My other option for staying at Dalton next year is to move off campus and work or to give up Dalton altogether and go to public school here in Westerville or somewhere else. I can't go back to my old school."

"I see. Well, an athletic scholarship could cover the rest of your costs here, but I will need you to try out and to show that your skills would be an asset to the team."

"Of course, sir."

"You have actually played football before, right?"

"Yes, I was the kicker last year for a brief period of time at my old school. I have a video my father took the night I won our only game that season, if you'd like to see it."

"Sure."

Kurt pulled the video up on his phone and handed it to the coach.

"That's a good kick, but what's with the dancing?"

"That was something we had worked out. I can practice this week if you have a couple of guys willing to help me. It's hard to get any significant practicing done if I have to retrieve the ball myself every time I kick it."

"Alright. I'll get a couple of the second string guys out to hold the ball for you and retrieve the balls. It will give them a break from the workouts we normally do. I'll come out about 4:00 and see how you're doing. Be here after last period and I'll have 3 guys here to go out to the field with you. You look like you wear a medium?"

"Yes, sir."

The coach got up from his chair and left the room for a minute. He handed Kurt a pair of navy sweatpants, a navy hoodie and a red t-shirt all with the football team logo.

"Put those on in the locker room and meet them here in my office."

"Yes, sir. Thank you for giving me a chance."

"If you can still kick like that, we may have a chance next fall. I haven't had a decent kicker in about five years."

Kurt left his office and walked as fast as he thought he could get away with to his dorm room. He grabbed his backpack, stuffed the football clothes inside, a pair of athletic boxers he used for yoga, socks and his cleats in the bag. He hurried to his class, while trying to eat what was in the sack lunch without getting caught.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad was waiting for him in class. Kurt slipped in right before the bell. Thad looked at him questioningly. Kurt nodded. Then he wrote what the coach had said on a piece of paper and slid it slightly to the left so that Thad could read it. They didn't write back and forth because they didn't want to get in trouble.

As soon as class was over, they talked in the hallway. They moved to an alcove out of the way.

"Some of the Warblers are acting weird," Thad said.

"I thought so this morning, but I thought maybe it was just because I was so tired and I wasn't talking that they were giving me weird looks."

"I think it must be more than that because you weren't there at lunch and it was going on then too."

"I wonder if this is the outcome of those photos. I bet that Blaine has a copy of _The Muckraker_ and some of the other Warblers have seen it somehow. Or Rachel sent him the photos. If that's the case, then we know who the photographer is."

"Ugh. My parents are contract negotiators and mediators. Maybe they could negotiate Blaine to be transferred to a school in Wyoming."

"We have five weeks of school left, and one is finals. The Warblers probably won't rehearse after we come back from New York, so that cuts off one more week. So, 3 weeks of dealing with Blaine. I lived through 17 years of Lima. I can survive another 3 weeks with Blaine. The hardest part about dealing with him is that he's so oblivious. Like he doesn't see how his actions affect other people, namely me. If he weren't so convincingly oblivious, it would be so much easier to be irate with him. Maybe he had no idea people were looking over his shoulder when Rachel sent him those photos of me with Sam at the motel. Or maybe he thought _The Muckraker_ articles were funny. Maybe he was just using it to make fun of public school ridiculousness. I don't know."

"Well, you're doing better than me at assuming the best about this. Either way, enough is enough. But we have to get to our next class before we're late. I'll see you in Warblers practice." Thad ran off since his class was a couple of halls over.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

At the beginning of Warblers' practice Kurt raised his hand. "May I speak for just a few minutes? I promise to be as brief as possible."

The council nodded.

"Some of you are as bad as a group of 12-year old gossiping middle schoolers. I thought we had become friends over the last few weeks, but then you guys pull this crap again."

He sat down.

Wes stood. "Would someone besides Kurt or Thad like to explain what that was about?"

Jeff stood. "It's our fault. Blaine's been spending a lot of time with the New Directions since he's been dating Rachel. Their school is insane. It's like a teen soap opera. He's been telling us what goes on. It's amazingly entertaining. The part of the saga that Kurt was just referring to is that Rachel and Finn were tailing Quinn because Finn thought Quinn might be cheating on him. They followed her to a motel. They went back a few evenings to watch and one evening they photographed Kurt there. So, rumor has it that Sam is seeing Quinn again, but he's actually gay and using Quinn as his beard or that he's bi and he's sleeping with both of them, well not both at the same time. But that they each meet him there separately for their trysts."

Kurt just closed his eyes and sighed loudly. "Of course." He stood again. "I won't tell you anything because I don't trust any of you right now. Stop spreading rumors, which in this case are just straight up LIES."

Nick stood and responded. "Kurt, we don't actually believe any of it. It's just really amusing. _That Muckraker_ was like a high school version of _The Enquirer_. None of us knows why you were at that hotel, but we don't think you're cheating on Thad. At least I don't."

Thad stood up. "I am honestly this close to reporting the group of you to the headmaster. There's a fine line between being nosey and being bullies. Spreading lies is slander. I am sure that Dalton's anti-bullying policy includes slander. This stops now. I don't care how fun you think it is to get insider info into the lives of the New Directions. Kurt may be the most forgiving person I've ever met, but I'm done. I will not stand by and let you hurt someone I care about for your entertainment."

Thad sat down.

Wes stood again. "I expect apologies from each person involved in this. If I find out that you have not done as requested, the council will remove you from the team participating in New York. We cannot have a unified team if a subgroup of us is getting their jollies from gossiping about another member of our group. I seriously hope that this last rumor has not made it outside this group. If it has, you need to make sure you tell people to stop spreading around lies or the headmaster WILL find out and start an investigation. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir" could be heard multiple times from one side of the room.

"Now, everyone in position. We need to learn the blocking and steps for 'Telephone'. Our steps have to be completely in unison to achieve the effect we're looking for."

He started the recording of the song. The rest of the hour was spent getting their movements in sync.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt grabbed Wes before he could leave and asked him to come with him. Kurt cornered Blaine.

"Wes is my witness. This is my last request. Stay out of my business. Your involvement in the lives of the New Directions is your own. I will not say anything about that. But MY life is none of your business, nor is it any of theirs. Do you know what I faced at home two Sunday mornings ago? My father knowing about my boyfriend before I had had the chance to drive to Lima and tell him in person myself because you've been telling the New Directions guys that Thad sleeps in my room. My stepbrother is a member of the New Directions. He was upset with me over something that is none of your business either, stepbrother stuff. And he used the information he had gotten from you about my personal life against me by telling my dad and making it into a big blowout. Where I sleep or who sleeps with me is none of your business, Blaine. It's no one's business but mine and whomever I choose to share a bed or a room with."

Wes spoke. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Blaine. But if you cross the line again, I will report you for the headmaster for investigation myself. Other people's personal lives do not concern you. Causing problems for Kurt at home has got to be a form of bullying."

"Right, right."

Kurt added, "You have the biggest case of 'I don't think about the consequences of my actions' of anyone I've ever met over the age of 8. Grow up, Blaine. Stay out of my private life."

"Got it."

"I want the photos you have of me and Sam erased from your phone."

"Um, okay." He pulled his phone out.

"Who sent them to you anyway?"

"Rachel."

"Of course. Did you actually send copies of the photos to anyone?"

"I don't know. When they were passing my phone around, they could have sent them to their own phones, I guess."

"I'll have to deal with that tomorrow, I guess."

"Do you have a physical copy of _The Muckraker_?"

"No."

"Good. Don't print one out. Don't tell anyone else about it," Kurt warned.

"And the apology?" Wes prompted.

"Right. I'm sorry, Kurt."

"Yeah, whatever. When you can actually explain what you're sorry for, I'll believe you."

Kurt turned to Wes, "Thank you."

He walked away to meet Thad, who was waiting for him in the hallway on the bench.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Come on. We have to hurry. I'm running late as it is."

Thad started walking faster to keep up. Thad waited outside the locker room by the door.

Kurt changed quickly and came back to grab Thad. "I'm meeting them in the coach's office."

When they got there, they found three sophomores waiting for Kurt. They introduced themselves and led Kurt out to the football field. One of them carried a bag of footballs. Another had some bottles of water and Gatorade in a cooler. Kurt handed Thad his satchel, his backpack, and his uniform blazer to keep while he sat in the stands to watch Kurt.

They started with some warm ups and stretches. Kurt started kicking from the 20 yard line. The first few attempts were a bust, but after he got into the swing of things, he started making field goals pretty consistently. They stopped to take a break after about 30 minutes. Kurt did some more stretching and then resumed practicing. Coach Moreland came out a little before 4:00, but Kurt didn't see him because he was watching from behind, sitting in the stands. After watching for 10 minutes, he got up and walked to the edge of the field where Kurt could see him. He kicked one last field goal and then walked over to where the coach was standing.

"Well done. Considering you haven't played in close to a year and a half, that was very impressive."

"Thank you."

"So, I am going to offer you the difference in whatever your current scholarship is covering and what you need to stay at Dalton, which seems to be the cost of your room and board, but I will double-check with the front office. I'll need you to come the headmaster's office after your last class tomorrow to sign the offer. I'll need a parent to sign it as well. Can you have a parent present at 3:00 tomorrow? If not, I'll need you to bring a phone number where the offer can be faxed so a parent can sign it and send it back."

"I'll see if my dad can be here. If not, I'll get you the fax number to his shop."

"Well, congratulations. Keep the sweatsuit. It's yours to wear any time you want. Also, if you'll follow me back to my office, you can choose between the available numbers."

"Alright." Kurt followed him and motioned to the stands for Thad to come too. When Thad caught up, Kurt took his stuff back from him. Thad waited in the hall.

Kurt went into the office and the coach showed him the choices.

"I'll take 93."

"Great. I'll have uniforms and a jacket ordered for you. Come by next week to pick them up. I'll assign you a locker by then, so you'll have some place to store your stuff during practice."

"Thank you. I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"Well, my thanks will be seeing you kicking field goals next fall. I'll have the practice schedule printed up and ready for you when we meet after school tomorrow."

Kurt nodded and walked out of the office. Thad was still waiting for him in the hall.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"So?"

"So, I'm number 93, the new kicker for the Dalton football team. He's offering to cover whatever my current scholarship doesn't cover. I get to stay." Tears were streaming down Kurt's cheeks.

"That's amazing! I'm so glad for you." He lowered his voice so no one else could hear. "I know this is a mixed feeling celebration. I know you don't want to play football, but I hope this is better than having to work a lot and live off campus. And it's definitely better than going back to public school I think."

"It is. Maybe this won't be bad. Maybe it will be good somehow. I'm going to keep a positive attitude."

"Let's go to our room. You can shower and get redressed for dinner."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt came out of the bathroom, but he was only wearing his slacks.

"Sam wants me to call him and I need to call my dad too. I'm really tired. Can you just go sneak up dinner for both of us and we can eat in here?"

"Sure. I'll do what I can and if I don't succeed, I'll just order Chinese to be delivered."

Kurt walked to his dresser and pulled out pajamas. He went back and changed quickly. Thad was still waiting when he came back out.

Kurt went and sat next to him. He turned and kissed him gently. "Go try to swipe our dinners and I'll make my phone calls and then we'll talk, okay?"

"Okay."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Hey, Sam. Sorry it took so long to call back. I was in the middle of something school related, I couldn't call until now."

"No problem. I just called to thank you. My dad went to see your dad like you told me to have him do and your dad got my dad a job. A job. A full-time job!"

"That's great, Sam. I'm really glad for your family. I'm really sorry about what was said about you in _The Muckraker_. No one has hurt you have they?"

"Your dad was down at the school when it opened this morning and by the end of first period, Sue was on the intercom telling the entire school that everything that was printed in _The Muckraker_ was a lie and that it was an exercise in learning to use proper sources for journalism and the ease of fooling the masses with fake photos and news or something? I don't know, but she made it very, very clear that the whole thing was made up and that no one should take any of it to be true."

"Well, did that help?"

"Yeah. But all that really matters is that my dad got a job and your dad is also going to get someone he knows to rent us an apartment. It's small, with three tiny bedrooms, but it's furnished and it's a lot better than that awful motel."

"Really? That's amazing."

"Yeah, it's just for the next few months, a short-term lease thing. To give us time to find our own place again. He also got a lawyer he knows to look into the bank's procedure. Your dad said it sounded illegal to him, but he wanted someone who would know to look into it."

"Well, I'm glad that things are turning around for you. If you're still working out here on the weekends, call and then come by and see me, okay? I won't be back in Lima unless there's a real reason for me to make the trip. But call if you want to talk or anything."

"I'll do that. Thanks again for everything, Kurt."

"You're welcome."

Next Kurt called Burt.

"Hey, Dad. I called because I needed to let you know that I tried out for the football team this afternoon. And I was offered an athletic scholarship to cover the rest of my expenses here at Dalton. The coach is going to be faxing you some papers that you'll need to sign between 3:00 and 3:15 tomorrow. I need you to look them over, sign them and fax them back, okay?"

"Are you serious?"

"Completely serious. I'm the new kicker for the Dalton football team. Number 93."

"Wow. You hate playing football."

"Not as much as I'd hate leaving Dalton and going to public school again."

"So, I called earlier about your fund. It's got about $55,000 in it."

"Thanks for doing that. It helps me a lot when looking into colleges, which I'm going to start doing soon. I heard that you somehow got Coach Sue to announce to the whole school that _The Muckraker_ was a lie."

"Yeah. It's amazing how quickly people will fix things when I bring a lawyer with me who is reading straight out of some law book about libel and spouting precedents and case names."

"Whatever you did, it worked. And you got Sam's dad a job and an apartment. You were busy today. Pretty soon, I'm going to have to get you a fairy godmother costume."

"Yeah, right. Sam's dad's gonna be working at the auto parts store. And the apartment is just for a few months. I know a guy who had a place available until August 1st 'cause someone broke their lease and left town. I'm hoping that maybe they can get something worked out with the bank and get their house back. The lawyer was pretty certain that the bank had broken the law. Only time will tell on that."

"Well, thanks for doing all of that stuff. I know you didn't even know them."

"Well, I know what's right and what's not. Finn could have gotten that boy into the same situation you were in. Finn's my responsibility now too. I couldn't fix anything for you except to send you off to that fancy school. At least this, I could do something about. Finn needs to get his head on straight."

"I still don't know how he and Puck paid off all of those tires on those Range Rovers last year."

"What are you talking about?"

"He and Puck slashed the tires on 26 Range Rovers that belonged to the members of Vocal Adrenaline."

"Why?"

"They TP'ed our choir room and he and Puck got revenge on them? It was stupid. But Ms. Corcoran, their director, agreed to let them pay it off rather than press charges. But someone put tires back on those SUVs and I've never heard Finn talk about making payments or actually working until he paid back his half of the cost, which I'm estimating would be over $5000."

"I heard about that from my buddy that owns a shop in Akron. You mean Finn and Puck were responsible for that?"

"Yep."

"I can't think about that right now. I'll deal with that later. So, you want me to sign and say you can play football next season, even though you don't really want to play?"

"Exactly. It's better than having to live off campus and work."

"Alright. If it's what you want, I will sign. I know if I don't, you'll just find some way to convince the coach to wait until May when you can sign for yourself and you'll miss out on whatever practices they have until then."

"You got it."

"I'll be at the shop at 3:00 to make sure I don't miss the fax."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad came back and found Kurt lying in the dark in his bed with just the light from underneath the bathroom door illuminating the room. He shut the door carefully so he wouldn't make Kurt jump if he was asleep.

"I have food. Do you want to eat?" Thad asked quietly.

"Yes. I'm really hungry. Just open the bathroom door a little more and we'll be able to see well enough to eat."

Thad opened the door about a quarter of the way. He could see that Kurt had put a blanket on the floor with the wood tray for a table again like he had done for their indoor picnics before. Thad took his shoes off and sat down on the blanket and started pulling food out of a bag and putting it on the tray.

Kurt sat down across from him. "So what did you manage to swipe tonight, Aladdin?"

"Well, I actually told one of the workers you weren't feeling well and she packed real food in some containers. So, I have veggie lasagna, regular lasagna, salad, orange slices, and bottles of juice."

"That was nice of whoever did it. Point out who it was tomorrow and I'll thank them."

Thad handed Kurt a knife and fork. "Do you want to split the different lasagnas? I like both kinds."

"Sure."

They ate in silence. Kurt took the containers to the bathroom and washed them and laid them out to dry on a clean hand towel.

He went back in the room to find that Thad had turned the light on, folded up the blanket and tray and put them on the end of the unused bed. Kurt pulled out a couple of textbooks and propped his pillows up to read in bed. Thad grabbed a few books and followed Kurt's lead. Kurt propped his book up on his lap and extended his left hand. Thad reached out and took it. They worked on their reading assignments. Neither had any written assignments, which was unusual. When they had finished reading, Thad took both of their stacks of books and moved them to the unused bed. He went and showered quickly.

Afterwards, he turned off all of the lights and got back in bed with Kurt. Once he was lying down, Kurt scooted over and lay on Thad's chest. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I'm sorry about tonight."

"What's there to be sorry for?"

"Being so weird and quiet."

"You're allowed to be quiet. You needed time to think. You didn't push me away. You made it perfectly clear that you weren't avoiding me. You left room for me in the bed to read with you. You held your hand out for me. I felt really special. You let me be there even when you needed time to think through things. You didn't shut me out."

"I did need to think."

"And I happen to like your weirdness."

"You can't be serious."

"I most certainly can," he laughed. "Well maybe I'm not really good at being serious."

Kurt laughed.

"But I do like what you call your 'weirdness'. I don't like most of you or something. Your so-called weirdness is part of the really cool person that you are."

"So all of my nutty rituals don't actually annoy you? I always just figured you tried to ignore them."

"You don't annoy me. Did I give you the impression that you've been annoying me?"

"No, actually not at all. I just figured you kept it to yourself."

Thad moved so that they were lying face to face. "Hey, where's all this self-doubt coming from?"

"Thinking about too many 'what ifs', I guess."

"Well, if one of those was 'What if Thad is secretly bothered by my countertop full of skin care products or my alphabetized books and DVDs?', then you should just know the answer is 'no'. I might have never alphabetized my stuff like that, but I can see the merit in being able to find things quickly. And I already told you how much I enjoy your soft skin," Thad added flirtatiously at the end as he reached over to stroke Kurt's cheek.

"It's more along the lines of before you got involved with me your life was pleasant and not full of the ridiculous drama that seems to be permanently attached to mine."

"Ah, well you see before I got involved with you, you weren't in my life, which made my life extremely boring."

"You are such a sap."

"Maybe." Thad kissed him.

"You say I should be on some TV show handing out truth lessons to stupid people, maybe you should be writing greeting cards."

"Doesn't make you or me any less right about what we say."

"Touché. I'm really glad you're in my life."

"I feel the same way."

"One of the other things I was thinking about is my dad got Sam's dad a job and an apartment. They're moving out of that sleazy motel."

"That's great and remarkably fast."

"Yeah. And Coach Sue issued a retraction of the entirety of _The Muckraker_ over the school's PA system this morning after my dad paid a visit to the principal with a lawyer in tow."

"That's amazing. Maybe people won't hassle Sam then."

"I hope that's the case. It's just one of those super unusual days."

"Unusual how?"

"Things went well. Wes came down on the gossipy Warblers, I made the football team, Dad got Mr. Evans a job and an apartment, Coach Sue issued a retraction - I mean that alone should have caused hell to freeze over," he laughed.

"So, you were overwhelmed by the good outcomes of previously bad situations."

"Yes. And six weeks ago, I was pretty much friendless and alone here. Now I have made new friends, even if some of them can be annoying with their gossipy habits. And best of all, there's you." Kurt kissed Thad gently a few times and then they snuggled up and went to sleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad and Kurt sat down at the table where most of the Warblers were sitting for breakfast. Kurt sat next to Wes and spoke to him where no one else could hear.

"I have to leave practice at 2:50. I have to be in the headmaster's office at 3:00. I can't change the time of the appointment. I'm sorry if that's going to cause problems. I didn't know until after practice yesterday."

"Not a problem, Kurt. I know that appointments are made by the school and students show up when they are summoned."

"Thanks."

"Has anyone apologized yet?"

"No, but I didn't come down to dinner yesterday and I stayed in my room until just now, so no one's really had the chance to."

Kurt finished his food and headed off to French.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Kurt, please come in. Have a seat," Headmaster Carlson said.

Coach Moreland came in right behind him and sat as well.

"Coach Moreland tells me that you're quite the kicker. And that he wants the school to offer you a scholarship to cover the rest of the cost of attending Dalton."

Kurt nodded.

"Well, you have done quite well here, Kurt. Straight As, even with your extremely late arrival during the fall semester. Your academic scholarship will be renewed for the fall."

"Thank you, Headmaster Carlson."

"I appreciate all of the hard work you've put in to being a good student here. I've also been informed that you are the second lead for the Warblers. I assume that you are looking forward to performing in New York in a few weeks."

"I am, sir. Very much so. I've always wanted to go to New York."

"Coach Moreland will present the information about the terms of your sports scholarship offer."

"You will be required to attend the mandatory practices. If there is an overlap between Warblers practice and football practice, I need to know in advance."

"Yes, sir."

"We have not had a member of the football team who is also a lead singer in the Warblers. The Warblers are an important institution here in our academy and we will do our best to make sure that you are able to perform when needed. It shouldn't be an issue because football season ends before the choir competition season starts."

"Thank you, sir."

"As the kicker, you will not be required to attend all of our training practices. I will do my best not to have you just sitting around wasting time in the stands or on the sidelines, but I can't guarantee that it will never happen."

"Yes, sir. I understand."

"Okay, so here are the papers I need you to read over and sign. I already faxed a copy to your father at the number you provided. They'll print out in the office out front once he sends them back."

Kurt took the papers and read through the details. The scholarship would cover his room in a standard double and board for the entire school year.

"I just have one question. My books. Are those covered by the academic scholarship or does that just cover tuition? I will get a job over the summer to pay for them, if necessary. I just need to have an estimate of how much I'll need so that I'm properly prepared."

"Has something happened so that your parents can't afford any of your costs, Kurt?" Headmaster Carlson asked.

"Not exactly. It's that my stepbrother is causing a lot of family discord because I am here and he is in public school. I am trying to resolve that issue by my dad not paying my costs here and doing it myself."

"I see. I understand how difficult family life can be sometimes. It's commendable that you are working hard to pay your own way. And to answer your question, the academic scholarship covers your books as well. What it doesn't cover would be the cost of any AP exams or the SAT or ACT. Those would still be your responsibility."

"Thank you. I will save accordingly to cover those tests myself."

Kurt took the pen he was offered and signed the contract and handed both back to the coach. He put the rest of the paperwork into a folder in his satchel.

"Welcome to the football team, Kurt."

"Thank you, Coach."

Headmaster Carlson and Coach Moreland stood and shook hands with Kurt before he left the office.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad was in their room studying when Kurt arrived. He closed the door behind him and put on his best catwalk strut in the limited space he had and proclaimed, "You are looking at the newest official member of the varsity football team. I signed the contract. I get double-occupancy room and board for the whole school year."

"Excellent. My hot boyfriend is a football player."

Kurt laughed. "Your boyfriend is going to try to keep from dying on the football field while kicking balls down the field and through the goal posts. I hope the team has a good defensive line because I really don't want to be a blue and red splatter on the field."

"Well, the kicker they've had has never ended up injured. Embarrassed for never making the field goal attempts, probably, but injured, no."

"Well, that's good news. I pick up my uniforms next week. Too weird. I'll get used to it, though."

"I'll have to get a hoodie made with your number on the back."

"Seriously?"

"Of course. I'll be your number one fan."

Kurt just laughed at him. Thad got up and hugged him. "I really am proud of you. I know that it took a lot of willpower to make the choice to do this. I'll be there for every game."

"You really don't have to. It will be super boring."

"Not if you're playing it won't be."

"Well, that's debatable, but you're allowed your own opinion."

"Oh! Get changed, unless you want to go out wearing your uniform."

"Did I forget some plans that we made?"

"Nope. After rehearsal, Jeff came up to me and told me that the two of us need to be downstairs at 5:00 wearing whatever we want to leave campus in."

"Well, that's vague."

"Just wear whatever. You look good in everything you own."

Kurt kissed him. "You're biased."

"Nope. Just truthful." He kissed Kurt. "Now, get dressed or you'll have to go out like you are."

"No way." He grabbed an outfit and changed in the bathroom and was ready in 5 minutes. "I'm going to have to cut my hair shorter," he said as he came out of the bathroom. "Football practice, helmets, communal showering and grooming... Yuck. I'll need to be able to get ready faster."

"Hey, did you even look around the locker room?" Thad stepped close to him and pulled him into a hug.

"No. I just went inside and changed as quickly as I could. We were running late."

"We don't have communal showers. They're like toilet stalls. So, imagine two longer than average toilet stall walls, one on each side." Thad stepped back and was using his hands and arms trying to explain himself. "The door is at the front, obviously. Inside there's a narrow bench and a couple of hooks and a shower curtain divides that space off from the actual shower."

"Really?"

"Really. So, I imagine you can take off your jersey and body pads and socks and shoes and put them in your locker. Then you can carry the pants and underwear you want to wear afterwards and your toiletries and towel with you into the shower. You can undress in there, hang your stuff up on the hooks, shower, dry off, put your own pants on and carry your uniform pants and stuff back to your locker."

"Oh, my God. That's like the best news since I found out that I can stay. The locker room at McKinley is completely open. There are tile walls that are about 4 feet tall between the showers. The front is open."

"I see why you hated the locker room."

"It's pretty hard to not see anything when guys are showering naked in open-front showers. And as the resident fag, I wasn't allowed to see anything. It was a nightmare."

Thad took his hand. "That's over. And we're going to be late."

"Let's go. But don't say anything to anyone about the football thing yet. I want to feel more confident about it before people find out."

"Sure."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"He's here." Kurt heard Jeff say into his phone. "Got it."

"Okay, right this way, sirs," Jeff said, as he ushered Kurt and Thad out the door toward the parking lot.

"Where are we being escorted to?" Kurt asked.

"Ah, I am not at liberty to divulge that information."

Kurt and Thad got in Nick's back seat. Jeff got in the passenger seat. They drove for about 15 minutes and arrived at a Chinese buffet. They went inside and several other Warblers were already there and had gotten the restaurant to let them push several tables together. There were empty seats for the four of them, two on each side in the middle. Thad and Kurt sat down on one side and Nick and Jeff took the other two seats.

Nick began to speak, "We have brought the two of you here tonight to officially apologize as a group. Your dinners are on us tonight. We are really sorry that we allowed ourselves to get caught up in the ridiculous gossip from your old school, Kurt. None of us actually believed any of the nonsense that was being said about you, but we didn't take into consideration how many times things like this probably happened to you when you went to school there. We didn't consider how many times people probably believed rumors about you and how many times your life was negatively impacted by that type of behavior. What you perceived as us continuing the tradition of making fun of you was really us making fun of them making fun of you, but we totally see how you had no way to distinguish between the two. All of us really like you and we're glad you joined the Warblers. We're really sorry for the way we behaved."

Kurt spoke. "And this isn't some plot to buy my forgiveness for the price of a Chinese buffet dinner just so I won't go to Headmaster Carlson and tell him what's been going on, right?"

"No, it's not. Not at all. The guys who are here actually came to me and Jeff and wanted to do this. You can see who's here and who isn't. If you feel the need to report those who don't apologize, we can understand that."

Jeff spoke up. "We'll even write down who's here and add to the list those that were involved, but didn't come, so you can know who else owes you an apology." Jeff handed Kurt a stack of folded sheets of paper. "Those are written apologies from each person that's here tonight."

"Thank you." Kurt had a hard time keeping himself from crying. "I don't think anyone has ever actually apologized to me, much less written an apology letter. I'll read these later." Kurt put them in his jacket pocket.

"Well, we've already paid for our meals, so everyone can go get in line and let's eat!" Jeff said enthusiastically.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt sat in the bed holding the unread apology letters while Thad was in the shower. Thad came out to find him just sitting there staring at the stack of papers he was holding.

"Hey," Thad said softly, "are you okay?"

Kurt took a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah. I was just waiting for you to come sit with me while I read these."

Thad slid into his place next to Kurt. He wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.

Kurt opened each one, read it and then handed it to Thad to read. He made it through the entire stack and then started to cry.

"Do you have more homework or reading?"

Kurt shook his head. Thad took the stack of apologies and put them on Kurt's desk. He clicked off the lamp and got into bed with Kurt. He pulled Kurt close and Kurt put his head on his chest while the tears still flowed. Thad gently ran his hand up and down Kurt's arm.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Nearly a week later, Kurt rushed to the locker room after Warblers rehearsal on Monday, but was intercepted by one of the second stringers who diverted him to the coach's office.

"Yes, Coach Moreland?" Kurt asked as he entered the office.

"Your uniforms are here. They're on the chair against the wall over there. Your jacket is on the back of the chair so it doesn't get wrinkled."

"Thank you, Coach."

"Go get dressed properly. We'll see how you can kick wearing all that stuff," he laughed.

"It's easier without it, that's for sure."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The rest of the week and the following week went by in a blur of rehearsals, study groups for their AP exams, and spring football training for Kurt. No one knew about Kurt's new position on the football team.

The first week in May was filled with constant studying and actually taking their AP exams. All sports practices were cancelled during the exam days, but the Warblers continued to hold their dance rehearsals after class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Kurt and Thad made it through the AP exams and were glad that they wouldn't have to do any more extra studying for their finals for those classes. They could concentrate on the final papers they had to turn in before the teacher in-service days.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"We did it," Kurt proclaimed as he plopped on the bed after their dance rehearsal let out.

Thad joined him. "We did. Now we have to move on to other pressing decisions like where we're going to live this summer. I need to let my parents know soon if we want to use one of those mini apartments in Seattle or whether we're going to Florida."

"I need money too. I need to figure out where I can work. I can't just lounge around all summer. I have to make enough money to cover my car insurance, phone bill, SAT or ACT, and all of my AP exams for next year. My dad hasn't said he won't pay my car insurance or phone bill, but I don't want to be caught off guard if he decides to stop paying for them."

"So, how much do you need to make this summer? That sounds like a lot."

"Let me figure it out. Give me a few minutes." Kurt moved to his desk and took out a sheet of paper. After a few minutes, he said, "I'm going to need to work full time."

"Maybe we should start with the classifieds and see if you can find job openings in either place. I'll check Seattle, you check Florida."

"You know what I just realized?"

"What?"

"I have to get recertified. Like ASAP. I have to get that set up tomorrow. I just realized that I did all of my ASE certifications when I turned 16. By the time we move somewhere for me to start work, none of them will be any good. They have to be renewed every 2 years."

"Okay, well, that's a start. Where did you do it?"

"At school. I'll have to call ASE tomorrow and find out what my options are."

"Well, then that's your priority for tomorrow. Dinner for now?" Thad offered his hand. Kurt reached out and took it. He stood up from his desk and hugged Thad.

"Sometimes all of this must be too much for you, fooling with me."

"Kurt, look at me. This stuff is just life. People have to do things."

"I know, but I feel like I'm putting a damper on your life because you wouldn't have to deal with any of this stuff if it weren't for me. You'd just go jet setting around like you always have. Enjoying a nice summer vacation, maybe with your parents, maybe some place cool like Europe or"

Thad put his index finger gently over Kurt's mouth. "Shh. I know that you see it that way, but I don't. Can I tell you the way I see it?" Thad moved his finger and kissed Kurt before he continued to speak. "The way I see it, is that I get to spend the summer with you."

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"I know that you have been browbeaten to believe that your company is undesirable, but just because those lowlifes are stupid doesn't mean that I am."

He led Kurt over to the bed and sat back against the headboard. Kurt sat next to him. Thad intertwined their fingers.

"When you say things like this it actually hurts me. It makes me feel like you think I'm just going to walk away if something is hard."

"That's all I've ever seen. No one I know is dating the first person they dated. All I've ever seen is teen romances starting, maybe burning bright, and then dying when one of them gets bored or things get hard or they find someone else and cheat. It's not that I WANT any of that because I don't. And I would never cheat on you and I'm not implying that you would either. I guess I just feel like you'll eventually get fed up with me and find someone else less difficult."

"Scoot this way a little bit."

Thad moved from his position and climbed into Kurt's lap and looked him straight in the eyes. "I need to tell you something."

"Okay." Kurt looked away, somewhat concerned, like Thad might be upset with him.

Thad tipped his chin up and caught his gaze again. "Kurt, I love you." He leaned forward and gently kissed Kurt. He wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and kissed him again. "I want to be with you. Here, Florida, Seattle. I'd even move to Lima if it meant I got to be with you. I mean that. Sure, jet setting, as you called it, can be fun. But that's nothing like getting to be with you. I love you."

At some point, Kurt had wrapped his arms around Thad. He pulled him as close as he could. "I love you too. I have since before we went to Florida. That's what had me so tense when I sat with you in the chair that afternoon. I was afraid because I had already fallen so hard for you and I was scared that you just saw this as a high school romance with an expiration date."

"No more talk like that okay? I meant it when I said that it really hurts me."

"I'm sorry. I won't. I'll stop. I don't want to hurt you. Not at all." Kurt kissed him.

"I know. I know," Thad said through the kisses. "I've never seen you do anything mean to anyone, except yourself. I know you don't want to hurt me. That's why I had to make you see. You keep saying mean things about yourself. I'm in love with you. Please don't say mean things about the person I love."

"I never thought about it like that. I'll stop. I will."

"Good. I'm going to start defending you against yourself just like I would if there was someone in here saying those things about you. Now how about we get back to what I had planned before you decided to start insulting yourself?"

"And what was that?"

"Dinner and then a nice walk through the woods. Everything's in bloom and we haven't been out there in over a week."

"You don't have to convince me. I'd love to. But you will have to get off my lap if we're ever going to make it out to the woods for our walk."

"Hmm. Tough choice. The woods did sound really great when I came up with the idea, but your lap is so comfortable." He kissed Kurt and ran his hands through the hair at the base of Kurt's neck.

"Mmm. You know I love the kissing, but we can resume this when we get back. If we stay much longer, we'll miss dinner. Hop up. Let's go eat, and then we'll go make out in the woods."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The final week before their competition, the Warblers rehearsed after school every day. Kurt had been excused from football practice that week. The Warblers were also excused from all of their classes that Friday. The 16 Warblers and their two chaperons flew out very early Friday morning.

They checked their luggage at the hotel and left for a few hours of site seeing. They returned to the hotel to change for dinner. The Warblers booster club provided them with dinner and tickets to see _The Lion King_ on Broadway. After the show, they were given strict orders to sleep and not horse around.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"That was spectacular! Absolutely phenomenal!" Kurt exclaimed as they walked into their hotel room.

"I think you've used every adjective in the English language similar to those two ever since we walked out of the theatre," Jeff said.

"That's because it was all of those combined together and more."

Thad laughed. "It really was good. I enjoyed it a lot."

Nick asked, "Do you two shower at night or in the morning?"

"At night," they answered in unison.

Jeff laughed at them. "We both shower in the morning, so this will work out easily."

Kurt went first. When Thad came out, the other three were already in bed. Thad turned the last light off and got in bed with Kurt. Kurt was awake and waiting for him. He moved his arm so that Thad could lay his head on his chest.

Thad moved after a few minutes. He scooted up enough that he could whisper directly into Kurt's ear. "I'm glad you had such a good time. Maybe one day we can come back and see some more shows together." He kissed him gently on the neck below his ear. "I love you."

Kurt turned on his side and moved closer so he could kiss Thad. He was very gentle and quiet. He didn't want to disturb Nick or Jeff. He quietly said, "I love you too." He turned on his side and scooted back as the little spoon.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning everyone was in the lobby ready to leave at 9:00. They took a shuttle to the theatre. Each of the 9 groups got 30 minutes of practice time on the stage to get their mic levels adjusted and for the light crew to get the timing right.

They practiced their set twice all the way through. Blaine sang lead on "Soul Sister", Kurt and Blaine split the lead on "Telephone" and "Animal", and Kurt sang "King of Anything". The run-throughs went well.

They went back to the hotel afterwards. They were not allowed to leave the hotel during the day and they were instructed to rest their voices. They all met for lunch and were released back to their rooms to rest.

Most of them spent the afternoon watching TV, since there wasn't much else to do.

They met back for dinner at 5:00. Afterwards, they changed into their uniforms, met in the lobby and left on a shuttle for the theater.

They drew 5th position of 9. They sat at the back of the audience and watched the first 2 groups perform. They went to the back stage area and warmed up their voices and did some stretching.

Their time to perform finally came. They got into position in the dark. The lights came up, the background vocals started and then the Blaine's voice could be heard clearly over the top, "Hey, hey..." They stayed on pitch and their movements were tight and crisp. They had completely rechoreographed the piece since sectionals.

They transitioned into "Telephone" smoothly. Kurt and Blaine were out front with the rest of the group doing a variety of difference dances in blocks around the stage, acting out being in a club, joining in on different parts with matching movements that broke back off into blocks again throughout the song.

"Animal" had also been rechoreographed as well. They added a lot more dance steps having the best dancers in a row right behind Kurt and Blaine, who mingled through them as they sang. The second and third row dancers did less intricate, but equally tight and crisp moves that complemented the more complicated steps.

Their last piece was "King of Anything", which was most like their traditional formation dancing similar to "Raise Your Glass" from Regionals. Kurt really played up the facial expressions and got the crowd clapping along in the right places. They received a standing ovation, with lots of cheering from the crowd.

They filed off the stage and started hugging and congratulating each other. They knew they had done a fantastic job and that all of their hard work had paid off. Now, they just had to wait to see what the judges thought. They went back out to the audience to watch the final groups perform.

All of the groups were really talented. It would be tough to be a judge was all Kurt could think. He really wanted the group to do well. Finally, the wait was over. The announcer started calling up the 3 finalists.

"Soaring Melodies from Nevada." Clapping and cheering.

"Beat to Beat from New York." More clapping and cheering.

"Dalton Academy Warblers from Ohio." More clapping and Kurt squealing and cheering.

The Warblers got up and filed up onto the stage and stood in formation.

"In third place, Beat to Beat from New York." One of their members stepped forward to take their trophy. Everyone applauded.

"In second place, Soaring Melodies from Nevada."

The moment the announcer said "Soaring", all of the Warblers realized that they had won. They did their best to maintain their composure as they had been coached to do as proper prep school students.

"In first place, the Dalton Academy Warblers from Ohio." Wes stepped forward and took the trophy and shook hands with the announcer. He brought the trophy back and placed it on the floor in front of the group. The members refrained from screaming or behaving too wildly. They hugged each other and all of them were smiling from ear to ear.

There were some final words from the announcer and the curtains closed. Wes led them off the stage back to where their teachers were waiting. They were all talking excitedly, but it hadn't quite sunk in.

"We won!" Wes exclaimed. "Everyone did a great job. All of our hard work really paid off. I don't know how many of you were listening, but we get to compete again in September at their international competition. We'll have to figure out how that will work with the new council. We all need to head to the shuttle and get back to the hotel. It's late."

Once everyone was on the shuttle, David reminded everyone to meet for breakfast at 8:30 and to check their luggage at the front desk. Everyone went back to talking amongst themselves.

Once they were back to the hotel and could use their phones again, most everyone started calling and texting people about their victory.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

By the next morning, their performance had been uploaded to YouTube so that they could share it with anyone they wanted to.

Everyone met for breakfast and they all headed out for a sightseeing tour of the city. They spent the day enjoying themselves and relaxing. They retrieved their luggage and headed to the airport at 4:00. By the time they got back to their dorm rooms, it was nearly 9:00. Kurt and Thad showered and collapsed into bed.


	5. Chapter 5

Monday morning Kurt went to the office and made an appointment with the headmaster during lunch. While Kurt was making that appointment, Thad hurried off to the football coach's office and made a lunch appointment as well.

They met up in the cafeteria and ate breakfast together and headed off to class.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad knocked and waited to be acknowledged and opened the office door. He stepped inside.

"Coach Moreland, my name is Thad Hardwood."

"I remember you from PE, Thad. Please come in. What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was wondering if there are any non-playing positions still available for the football team for the fall. Like waterboy or anything that would allow me to travel with the team and attend football camp this summer."

"That's an odd request from someone who will be a senior and who has no interest in playing football. I usually get these types of requests from the students who don't make the cut for the team."

"I know, sir."

"Let me think about it. Come back after school and I'll have an answer for you. Practice ends at 4:30."

"Thank you, coach."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Kurt, please have a seat," Headmaster Carlson said. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from our newly crowned national champions Warblers lead singer?"

"Well, that's what I've come here to ask about. I've noticed that all of the non-sports teams that compete against other schools have letter jackets. The debate club comes to mind."

"Yes, you're right."

"Well, I'd like to petition that the Warblers receive letter jackets as well. Many high schools allow their students to get letters for show choir, band and orchestra. I know that it has only been in the last couple of years that the Warblers have started to compete again. I'm not sure why there was a hiatus, but now that we are competing and we've won a national title, it seems fitting that the Warblers get letter jackets."

"That seems to be a reasonable request to me. It is a very elite group with fewer than 20 members which makes being part of the group as difficult as it is to be on one of our sports teams. I think it's fitting for part of the money The Warblers won be used to get jackets for the team. But I also believe that the Warblers Council will have to vote on this as well."

"I'm sure they do, but I wanted to make sure that we had approval before I brought the idea to the group. It may be that the graduating seniors might not want a jacket since they are leaving, but that can be left up to them to decide. I'm going to bring this up this afternoon. We're also having our elections for next year's council this afternoon. And there's small celebration dinner tomorrow evening in the cafeteria at 6:00."

"The school was very well represented at the competition. I've watched the YouTube video."

"Thank you, sir." Kurt stood to leave.

Headmaster Carlson extended his hand. Kurt reached out and shook it.

"Congratulations on a job well done. I'll see you tomorrow evening at 6:00."

Kurt nodded and left.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad had managed to make it back to the cafeteria before Kurt, who came flying in with barely enough time to eat the bowl of soup he grabbed. He slid into the chair next to Thad and then scooted the chair even closer to him. He put his left hand on Thad's leg while he ate his soup.

"Did your meeting go well?"

"It did. You'll find out when everyone else does," Kurt teased.

"But I'm on the council," Thad said batting his eyes ridiculously.

"Fine. The answer was yes."

"The auditions and the election for the open council are this afternoon."

"I'd like to keep my position as lead singer, but I'm not actually sure how that works. Will Blaine and I have to reaudition or something?"

"We had gone with a single lead all last year, but a dual lead seems to be a better choice. Since neither of you is graduating this year, you will both keep the title unless someone challenges one of you next fall and wins. We'll be listening the auditions for the incoming freshman and a couple sophomores this afternoon. After that, we let current students audition who want to try out for this coming fall."

"Wait, the auditions are in the spring for the following fall? How did I get to audition in November?"

"Special request. The Warblers hadn't had a countertenor in about a decade. You were given an audition by special invitation. It's been known to happen with other transfer students with unique vocal talents. We will also hold auditions for any remaining spots for any new transfers that show up at the beginning of the semester next fall. The maximum number in the group is 20. We had 18 earlier this year, but we lost 2 to low GPAs at the end of the first semester. We don't have to take 20 people, but we can."

"I see." Kurt ate the remaining few bites of his soup and stood up right as the end of lunch bell started to chime. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt rushed in to Warblers rehearsal, almost late because he had scurried to Coach Moreland's office to tell him that he might be late to practice since they were holding auditions that afternoon and he hadn't known about it.

Kurt raised his hand as he sat down.

"Yes, Warbler Kurt," Wes said.

"I would like to bring one issue before the council before we begin the auditions."

"Go ahead."

"The Warblers are the only elite competing school group that do not have letter jackets. I went to our headmaster today and asked about this. He saw no reason why we cannot get them since we are competing again. So, I would like to propose that we vote on getting letter jackets. A special patch would be created with the Warblers logo to go on the non-sports team arm, which I believe is the right arm. And a separate patch would be placed on the sleeve for each competition that we win. So, new fall members would get a jacket with just the Warblers patch, but all of us would have ICHSA Champion patches as well as the Warblers patch. The jackets would be identical to the ones that all of the other teams wear. Blue bodies, red sleeves. I'm sure all of you have seen someone wearing one."

Wes responded, "That is an interesting idea, Kurt. I say we leave this matter for the group to consider during the meeting today and we will take a vote after all of the auditions."

"Thank you." Kurt sat down.

"We'll be listening the incoming freshmen and sophomore's audio files before we start with the live auditions. Those interested were told to be here at 2:45, so we hope to start as close to that time as possible. So, we'll play each audio segment and vote on whether the person is cut or moves on to being considered. We have 10 audio submissions."

They listened to each one. Three were rejected straight away. They listened to a second song by each of the remaining candidates and ranked them from 1 to 10. Two of the 7 remaining had listed beatboxing as a skill and they listened to both of their beatboxing submissions and ranked their beatboxing skills separately on their sheets and turned the sheets into David who tallied each candidate's total score.

Thad had a whiteboard in the room and wrote the candidates and their scores underneath their vocal part on the board. He turned the board facing the wall. They had 4 students audition live. The current members went through the same process. The candidates were told to check the door tomorrow morning at 7:00 for the list of Warblers for the fall.

After they left, Thad turned the board around. David tallied the live auditioners' scores and wrote them on the board.

Wes spoke. "We have 5 seniors leaving. Richard is a junior, so we are not losing our beatboxer, but it would be best to bring in a new beatboxer for the fall so that Richard can train him. We need to replace 2 tenors, 1 baritenor, 1 baritone and 1 bass. The bass is almost always the hardest to replace because we rarely get a young bass. All of the returning baritones, please stand."

Three Warblers stood.

"Have any of your lower ranges expanded in the past year? Do any of you think you could join the bass section for the fall?"

John raised his hand. "I think I could."

Wes brought him up to the piano and had him demonstrate his low range.

"Warbler John is now a bass in our group. So, now we need to replace 2 tenors, 1 baritenor and 2 baritones."

"A similar question holds now for our current baritenors. Do any of you feel comfortable switching to singing baritone?"

David raised his hand.

"Good. Anyone else? No volunteers? Let's have the other three of you up to the piano."

They did descending scales.

"Flint, you can sing quite a bit lower than the others. Would you be willing to move to baritone?"

"Sure."

Thad was writing on the board listing the 2 basses, the 2 baritones, the 3 baritenors, 2 tenors, 1 counter tenor and 1 beatboxer that were left in their returning group.

"So, we can choose up to 9 of the 11 students we've heard, but I would suggest that we leave 2 spots open for the incoming fall transfers. We may get really lucky. It has been known to happen." Wes looked directly at Kurt.

"So, choosing 7 of the guys we heard today. We take the highest ranked beatboxer, Thomas. Then 6 others."

They went through the list and made their choices.

Once that was finalized, David copied down the names of those who had been chosen and the parts they would sing. They would have 2 basses, 3 baritones, 4 baritenors, 4 tenors, 2 high tenor/altos, 1 counter tenor and 2 beatboxers.

Wes hit his gavel to get everyone's attention. "Since both Blaine and Kurt will be returning in the fall, they will maintain dual lead. In Warbler tradition, if anyone wants to challenge their positions, that will take place next fall."

Thad spoke. "There is one council position open for next year. Please take a ballot and mark your choice. Pass them back to the front when you've finished."

Thad tallied the ballots. "The winner is Trent Nixon. Congratulations. Please stay after the meeting to discuss your training."

Wes took charge again. "We've reached the end of our election and auditions. We need to bring Warbler Kurt's idea back to the table. Would anyone like to speak to the issue."

Jeff stood. "I think it's a cool idea. My cousins are in high school and both of their schools allow music students to get letters and letterman's jackets."

John stood. "I'm not sure how much any of us would wear one. All of us board here and stay on the school grounds most of the time. The sports teams and the debate team actually go off-campus to compete fairly frequently whereas we only compete a few times a year and when we do, we have to wear our blazers."

"Two valid points," Wes added. "I think we'll do this by secret ballot."

Thad tore a few sheets of paper into quarters and passed them around the room.

"Please write 'yes' or 'no' on the slip. Keep in mind that you will not have to personally pay for the jacket if we decide to get them. Seniors should only vote 'yes' if they want a letterman jacket. Leave your slip blank if you are senior and do not want one. I don't want the results skewed by all 5 seniors marking 'no.'"

Everyone wrote their choice and passed the slips in. Thad counted them. "The results are 9 'yes', 3 'no'. So, we will go ahead with the letterman jackets. We will have order forms ready for tomorrow's meeting."

"Don't forget that we are having a dinner celebration in the cafeteria tomorrow at 6:00. Plan accordingly and be there in your blazers. Meeting adjourned." Wes thumped his gavel.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad hurried to the locker room. Kurt went in to get dressed, while Thad waited. Thad didn't always watch Kurt practice, but he did go with him occasionally.

Thad walked with him to the field and then veered off into the stands and split his time between watching and reviewing math formulas.

Once practice ended, Thad waved Kurt over and told him to meet him in the coach's office after he got dressed.

Thad knocked on the open door, "Coach Moreland?"

"Come in, Thad and close the door behind you."

"I considered what you asked me earlier and I looked through our returning players and the students we've had in non-playing positions. I can offer you the position of equipment manager. It would be your responsibility to make sure that all of our footballs are properly aired up and that all of our equipment is in working order. You might have to double as waterboy or drink fetcher or something else if someone is sick and doesn't show up for a game. You'd be issued a blue polo shirt to wear with your regular Dalton gray slacks during the games - like this one," indicating what he was wearing."

"That would be great, sir. Thank you. What does it mean for camp? Would I be allowed to attend football camp and be housed with the players?"

"I have a feeling you want to be housed with your current roommate?"

"Yes, sir."

"You realize that this is an unpaid position, more grunt work than glory, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, then, the position is yours." He handed Thad a small packet of information. "Read everything in there and bring back the signed form once you're sure you want to do this."

"Thank you." He put the papers in his bag.

A knock on the door broke into their conversation.

"Come in, Kurt. What can I do for you?"

"Thad and I need to know the contact information for the place that makes the letterman jackets. We need to contact them today, if possible. The school has authorized jackets for the Warblers."

Coach Moreland pulled out his phone and gave Kurt the name and phone number of the business.

"I hear that congratulations are in order for the two of you. The Warblers won this weekend. A national title. That's impressive. Well done."

"Thank you, sir."

"Thank you, Coach."

"Well, you had better make that call quickly if you want to talk to someone today. I think they close at 5:00."

"Yes, Coach," Kurt said. "Thanks again for the information."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt dialed the number as he and Thad walked down the hallway away from the athletic department and toward the dorms.

"Hello. My name is Kurt Hummel and I attend Dalton Academy. I need to get information on how to order letterman jackets for one of our school teams."

"Yes. I can do that. Is there still time to get them before school lets out?"

"Good. Oh, we'll need a customized patch for our group. I need to know how to submit the design for that and how much extra time it will take because of the new patch."

"Oh, about 12 jackets. We will need a few more in the fall, for the new members."

"Oh, that's great. Yes. I'll download the order forms and the size chart. If I bring the order in tomorrow before 5:00, how soon could I pick up the jackets?"

"Um, probably just one that I can think of. Okay. Thank you so much. I'll be in contact soon."

Kurt put his phone away.

"So, everyone but Richard's jacket can be ready as early as Friday. His will depend on how long it takes for her to get a special order from the company she gets the jackets from if she doesn't have his size in stock. His might be ready before the end of finals. We just need to print off the order forms and have a measuring tape handy tomorrow to measure for the correct size. They aren't returnable since they'll have our names embroidered on the right chest area like all of the sports teams."

"Alright, then let's get to it. The more we can get done today the better. I need to make the calls welcoming our new members tonight as well. The new members will have to wait to order with any potential new members we get in the fall. I don't want to waste Warbler funds on jackets for students that could potentially not end up attending Dalton."

"What happens to the ones we rejected?"

"I send them 'better luck next time' emails. That's the not fun part of being on the council."

"Alright." Kurt unlocked their door. "In we go. You start making phone calls. I'll get copies of this form printed out for everyone and I'll be back to grab my measuring tape before we go down to dinner."

Kurt kissed Thad and headed down the hall to their dorm computer lab to use the printer.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt had mass-texted the Warblers from the computer lab and asked anyone who was free to meet him in the common room on the third floor of the dorm at 5:30.

"Okay, each of you take a form and fill the top portion out. In the rectangular box print your name neatly, exactly the way you want it to appear on your jacket."

Kurt pointed to the box.

"Once you've filled your form out, line up so I can measure you correctly. We have to follow the size chart on the sheet I was given, not just order according to regular store sizes."

The guys started lining up. Kurt measured them and wrote their measurements on their papers in the correct boxes. He finished everyone in about 15 minutes.

"So, in case some of you have never paid attention to what the letterman jackets look like, I'll describe them. The body of the jacket is navy blue. The sleeves are deep red, like the emblems on our blazers. The back says Dalton Academy in red embroidered letters with an eagle head emblem in the center." He used his hands to demonstrate. "So, Dalton across the shoulder blades, the eagle in the center, Academy below the eagle. The Dalton emblem will be on the left chest like it is on our blazers. On the right side will be our names embroidered on two lines and Dalton written in an arc above and Academy in a reverse arc below. On the right sleeve, our custom Warblers patch will be at the top. Below that will be a patch with our national title on it like the sports teams have for their titles."

"When we will be allowed to wear them?" Trent asked.

"I'll get the exact rules and have them tomorrow, but I assume that the rules are covered in our handbooks in the dress code section," Kurt answered.

"When will we get them?" Jeff asked.

"I was told the earliest would be Friday if we order tomorrow. So, before school gets out, with the exception of Richard. He's tall and she may not have a tall jacket in stock. She's going to check."

"I actually already have a jacket, Kurt," Richard said. "I play basketball."

"Perfect. If you bring your jacket to rehearsal tomorrow, I can just take it with me and have the Warblers patch and our title patch added to it. Just come talk to me in a minute. Any other questions?"

Silence.

"Alright then. I'll see you all tomorrow. Thanks for coming on such short notice."

"Richard, honestly, I think you can just have the new patches sewn on your existing jacket since the non-sports activities are worn on the opposite sleeve, but if you don't want the Warblers patch on the jacket you have, I suppose that we could just order you a new one. Your choice."

"You can keep my form and I'll let you know tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah. That's fine."

"See ya!" he said as he walked toward the stairway.

On the way down to dinner, Kurt sent the photo of the Warblers logo to the business so that the woman he spoke with could get the patches started the next day.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Tuesday was their next to last day of classes for the semester. It felt like every class had a giant project or paper due by Wednesday. The teachers spent the entire week answering questions based on the review sheets that had been given out at the beginning of the previous week.

Everyone in the Warblers meeting was visibly tired from all of the assignments they had been working on. Kurt had never seen the entire group sit in silence waiting for the meeting to officially begin.

Wes called them to order, despite the fact that no one was making a sound. "Warbler Kurt has asked to speak today."

Kurt stood. "Anyone who was unable to meet me at 5:30 last night who wants a jacket, needs to see me before you leave today. I have a form you need to fill out and I need to take your measurements." Kurt sat down.

"Our second order of business is that Headmaster Carlson has asked the Warblers to sing at graduation. We will need to learn a new song since nothing we've performed this year would be suitable for that event. It will not involve dancing, so I think we should be fine. Anyone wishing to submit a suggestion for the song can write it down and place it on the table here before you leave today."

David spoke next. "Tonight is our celebration dinner in the cafeteria. You're presence is required. The headmaster will be giving some type of short speech. Wear your blazers. No sweaters or vests for dinner tonight."

Thad spoke. "We don't have anything else for today. So, those of you who need to see Kurt please do so, and anyone with song suggestions, bring them up here please. Remember that graduating seniors may get a jacket if they want to. Everyone else needs to fill out a form and be measured."

Kurt moved to the back of the room with the forms and measuring tape. A few guys took a form and filled it out and waited to be measured and then left. Richard waited for them to finish. He handed Kurt his jacket.

"Thanks Richard. I can ask to have yours done first so that you can pick it back up tomorrow if you'd like."

"It's fine. You can just bring it back when you pick up everyone else's."

"Great. Thanks!"

Kurt put the forms in a folder and put it in his satchel. He went up to the council table.

"I've got everyone's forms now. I need to head down to the shop to turn them in." Thad left with Kurt.

Kurt put Richard's jacket in the backseat with his own and they headed out to the apparel shop to place the order.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The headmaster gave a short speech and the Warblers all stood and everyone in the cafeteria applauded. They all ate together. Afterward, they were taken to the auditorium and arranged on the risers with the trophy in front. They were photographed for the display in the trophy case.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Switch with me. If I read through my own paper one more time, I'm going to go crazy," Kurt said.

"Sounds reasonable." Thad handed Kurt his paper.

Fifteen minutes later, they swapped back.

"I didn't see any mistakes in yours," Kurt said.

"Me neither."

"Then I declare our final papers done. I have something in honor of this auspicious occasion," Kurt said as he got up from his desk and opened his top dresser drawer. He pulled out two chocolate bars and handed one to Thad.

"You picked up my favorite chocolate bar. How did you do that? You haven't been off campus without me in... ages."

"I have my ways," he teased.

Thad unwrapped his and took a bite. "Who am I to challenge your magical powers. Mmm. These are so good."

They each ate about half their bars and wrapped them back up for later.

"One more day of classes and rehearsal and practice. Then we're off to Lima to clean out my room. Fun times."

"What have you decided to do with your stuff that we aren't taking to Seattle? My parents have always just paid the storage fee to leave them here at the school, but I know you don't really want to do that."

"I'm just going to take everything home with me that I'm not taking with us. I'll want to go see my dad when we come back. And I'll have to pick my Navigator up anyway. I'll pick everything up then and bring it back with me to Dalton."

"Are you ready to take all of those ASE exams?"

"I hope so. Are you sure you want to come with me? It's not exactly going to be interesting."

"Of course, I want to come with you. I'll help you get all of your stuff packed up tomorrow. Let's shower and go to bed. I'm exhausted."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After a very long day of classes, the Warblers met and discussed the suggested songs. They listened to the original versions of the 5 songs and then took a vote. Thad tallied the votes.

"We'll be singing 'Go the Distance'. We'll work on arranging it over the 2-day in-service and do our best to send you the music via email Saturday morning so you can learn your parts by Monday, at least well enough to sing along with the sheet music."

Wes added, "Those who are staying here over the break that have helped with arrangements before please stay. Everyone else is free to go." He whacked his gavel on the table.

Kurt knew now that Thad would need to stay, even though they had planned otherwise. He got up and went to their room and started packing the items that he would not be taking to Seattle and Florida with him. He did his best to keep calm, but it was hard. He managed to pack up all of his winter clothing and everything he wouldn't need in the next week and a half. He only left his schoolbooks, toiletries and clothes he was taking for the summer unboxed. He taped the tops and piled them near the door. Once they were all taped, he started carrying them down to the Navigator. By the time Thad came up to get him to go to dinner together, Kurt had loaded everything.

Thad came in and took his blazer off and hung it up. He slipped on a sweater vest to go down to dinner. Kurt was sitting at his desk reviewing for the ASE tests he was going to take. He walked up and leaned over the back of Kurt's chair and let his arms drape down onto Kurt's chest. He kissed him on the back of the neck. Kurt stood up and hugged him.

"It's okay. We were both so hyperfocused on getting our papers ready to turn in today that neither of us thought about how you'd have to stay over the in-service to arrange whatever song was chosen. It's not like we didn't know. You always do the arrangements. We just didn't think about it. Maybe if you get it done by Friday, like David is hoping, then you can still come to Lima for part of the time."

"Let's go eat before the cafeteria closes. Grab your cardigan or vest."

Kurt grabbed his cardigan and they walked down to the cafeteria hand in hand. "When are you meeting back up tonight? Right after dinner?"

"Pretty much."

"Maybe I should just head to Lima after dinner. That way I could get started really early tomorrow morning and maybe get it all done tomorrow."

"Whatever you think is best. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

They ate dinner in silence. Thad went with Kurt back to their room after they ate. Kurt changed out of his uniform. He hugged Thad and kissed him. "Call me when you know when or if you'll be able to come to Lima. I'll need to make arrangements for my dad or Carole to drive me back if you can't come at all."

"I'll call."

Thad hugged Kurt again. Kurt kissed him and said, "I love you."

"I love you too. I'll see you Friday or Saturday."

Kurt picked up his satchel and headed out to the parking lot.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt called Carole when he was about 30 minutes from the house, letting her know that he had changed his plans. He found out that she and his dad had gone out for the evening. He was really glad that he had the remote to the garage so he could park and empty the boxes without anyone seeing that he was home. The first thing he did was to close all of the curtains all over the whole house. He had no interest in anyone from Lima knowing that he was home.

He unloaded the boxes from the Navigator and took them to his room. He locked his bedroom door and decided to complete the task wearing a pair of his yoga boxers so that he could try things on easily. The items in the boxes were the easiest to sort because he knew what he had worn the most and never really wore at all.

He separated the clothes in the closet by removing everything he no longer liked enough to wear. He sorted everything into several piles around his room. Sell, donate, repack, hang back up, take back to Dalton. Once he had removed the first set of sell and donate items, he re-evaluated what was left. He started actually trying on all of the rest of his clothes. It was a tedious process. He eliminated practically every t-shirt he had to "work" in.

He really tightened the scope of what he really actually enjoyed wearing. He knew the next school year would be mostly wearing Dalton regulation clothing again. Living at Dalton also gave him insight into how much room he'd have in college to keep all of his clothes and personal items. After several hours of sorting and trying things on, he had managed to whittle his clothing down to what would fit in a dorm room.

He boxed up the sell and donate items and stacked them up to take to the Navigator the next morning.

His task the next morning would be to sort all of his non-clothing items, which he wasn't looking forward to at all. He had kept a lot of stuff for purely sentimental reasons, but he was quickly outgrowing his sentimentality realizing that if he kept all of it, he would be saddled with keeping it with him or leaving it behind. He decided that he would try to sleep and think about that again the next morning.

He texted Thad, got ready for bed, and went to sleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, he ate breakfast with his parents and then headed back up to his room to start the agonizing process of sorting. He had a flash of inspiration when he started the process. He organized everything into categories. He left no part of his room untouched.

A few hours later, he set up a little mini photo studio with a sheet hanging over his bookcase with a kitchen chair behind the sheet so that he could sit objects in the chair and photograph it with a neutral background. He opened the curtains in his room for natural light. He took a few photos of each object in each group. It was time consuming, but he eventually got through everything.

He loaded all of the photos onto his laptop and chose the best shot for each object and then put them in folders. He had previously saved the costumes he had made to a folder on his computer. He burned it and the new folders to 2 DVDs, so he'd have a back up if he needed it. Once he double-checked the DVDs, he dumped all of the folders off of his laptop.

After looking through everything that was sitting around in his room, he realized that there was practically nothing that he would want bad enough to lug around with him from place to place. He wanted to scan the photos of him and his mother and the other photos he had in his room so he could have his own physical and digital copies. The question that remained is what to do with all of the other stuff. He opted for recycling as much of it as possible, along with donating usable items. The rest ended up in the trash. He kept his Power Rangers and a few other items and put them in a small storage box.

The next hurdle he had to overcome was his shoes. He had quite a few pairs of shoes that were for limited occasions. He tried on any that he hadn't worn in the last few months and weeded out the ones that he wouldn't be able to walk in very far. He packed up the ones he wasn't keeping to take to sell.

The very last hurdle was his coats. He had far too many. Too many that he really liked. He did one culling, but still had too many. He decided to take a break and move the boxes to the Navigator. He realized that it was 4:00 and he hadn't eaten lunch. He took a break and went back to the coats. He tried them all on and eventually narrowed his collection down to a reasonable size.

He finished loading the boxes into the Navigator. His room was pretty barren at that point. He removed the photos from their frames and put them in a folder to scan and print new copies of the next day.

He organized what we left in his closet and folded up the items that had been at home that he was going to take with him for the summer. His closet contained about a quarter of what it had previously. He left the coats hanging in garment bags to keep them dust free and all of his winter clothes were boxed up and stacked in the closet.

He changed his focus and started reviewing for the ASE exams he'd be taking the next day.

He ate dinner with Burt and Carole and excused himself to go back to studying. He took a short break and talked to Thad for a while and studied the rest of the evening.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt got up early and left for Columbus. He dropped off the sale boxes at a resale shop and went to the testing center to sit for 5 of the 9 tests he needed to take. He chose the ones that were most in demand as far as jobs went. He answered questions for hours.

Once he was done, he went back to the resale shop and picked up what was not purchased and the cash they offered. He dropped everything else off at Goodwill and headed back to Lima. He scanned and printed the photos he wanted to take with him and went back to the house. He put the originals back in their frames and put them back on his shelves.

He was worn out and opted to eat eggs and toast for dinner. He headed to the shower, called Thad, and went to bed early. Thad was planning on leaving right after breakfast to come to Lima to pick him up the next morning.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

He got up early and vacuumed and detailed the Navigator while it was in the garage, and then drove it through a carwash and brought it back to leave it in the garage for the summer.

He did his laundry. He made lunch for Thad and waited for him to arrive. An hour after he should have arrived, Kurt called him, but the call went straight to voicemail. He called Wes and asked if they had reconvened to work on the arrangement again that morning. Wes said that they hadn't and that he thought Thad was leaving after breakfast, but he hadn't actually seen him since the night before.

Kurt called Thad's phone again and got his voicemail. Kurt called Trent, who said he had seen Thad at breakfast at 8:00 when he was in the cafeteria, but hadn't talked to him. It was noon. Even if Thad had left an hour after breakfast, he would have been to Lima before 11:00. He tried Thad one more time with the same result. He didn't know what else to try.

An hour later, he got a phone call.

"Kurt, dear. It's Ellen."

"Oh, God. What happened?"

"Thad's been in a car wreck. He was transported back to Columbus. I'm flying in as soon as I can."

"Which hospital?"

"Dublin Methodist."

"I'm leaving as soon as we hang up. How badly is he hurt?"

"He's in surgery. We'll know more when he comes out."

"I'm leaving now. If you need me to come get you from the airport call me."

"Kurt, be careful."

"I will."

Kurt hung up. He grabbed all of the stuff he had sat near the front door and carried it to the Navigator and called Carole before he pulled out of the garage.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A little over an hour later, Kurt pulled into the parking lot at the hospital. He went in and asked for Thad's room. He was directed to the waiting area because Thad hadn't been assigned a room yet. When he got to the waiting room, he saw Headmaster Carlson sitting in a chair with his eyes closed. He approached him.

"Headmaster Carlson?"

"Kurt. Please have a seat. Once they authorize someone to see him, you can come with me."

Kurt sat down in the chair next to him. "Thank you. His mom said she was flying here. I didn't keep her on the phone. What happened?"

"As far as I know, a drunk driver came up from behind, speeding and swerving in and out of lanes and hit Thad from behind and the impact knocked his car into the side rails and his car flipped."

Kurt was crying. "Oh, God. What do you know about his injuries?"

"Probably broken leg, possibly broken arm, concussion, a couple of broken ribs. They had already taken him for x-rays and back to surgery before I got here."

Kurt was sobbing. The headmaster handed Kurt the box of tissues from the table next to his chair. Kurt took them.

"Thank you." He was still sobbing.

"Family of Thad Harwood," a nurse said with an authoritative voice.

Headmaster Carlson and Kurt stood up to go meet her. "This way please. He's in recovery, but he'll be moved to a room soon."

"What is the extent of his injuries?" the headmaster asked.

"Broken left femur. Broken left radius. Mild concussion. 2 broken ribs, left side. Dislocated left shoulder. Cuts. Bruises."

"Oh, God." Kurt was still sobbing.

"Honey, you need to take a few deep breaths. Let's get you some water," the nurse said. "Would it help if you could see him?"

"Yes," Kurt said between sobs. He tried to do what she said, but breathing deep was hard. He managed a few times. He drank some of the water she handed him.

"Come on then. I'll take you into the recovery area, but you need to stay back and let the nurses tend to him. Just for a minute, okay, honey?"

"Okay."

Kurt followed her and stepped inside the curtained off area. Thad was bruised up pretty bad on the left side of his face. She led him back out after a minute or two.

"See, honey. He's breathing. He's gonna be okay. Can you take a few more deep breaths?"

Kurt tried. "How long will he have to stay?"

"Honey, it's too soon to know that. Probably by tomorrow, the doctor's will have an estimate on that."

"Okay." Kurt had managed to calm his crying some.

Headmaster Carlson spoke. "His mother is on her way. She was - I'm not even sure where. She travels for her job. She'll be here by the end of the day, I'm sure."

"Alright. Let's get the two of you back out to the waiting room. Once he's moved to a room, someone will let you know and you can go and be with him there, honey."

"Thank you," Kurt said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A nurse finally came to talk to them after what seemed like hours, but was really just slightly more than an hour later. She gave them Thad's room number and directions to get there.

Kurt opened the door quietly and went inside. He was in a double room, but he didn't have a roommate. Kurt walked past the empty bed and into Thad's section of the room. There was a nurse in the room checking on him.

"I'm Tara. I'll be his nurse until 6:00, then someone new will be coming in."

"Thanks, Tara. How long will it be before he wakes up?"

"There's no set time. He just needs to rest for now."

Kurt pulled a chair around to the left side of the bed and positioned it so that he could comfortably hold Thad's right hand while sitting in the chair. He started to sing. He sang any song that came to mind, whether it made any sense for the situation they were in or not. When he couldn't come up with any other songs to sing, he closed his eyes for a while, but didn't let go of Thad's hand. After about 10 minutes, he started singing again. He repeated songs. It didn't matter. He kept this up for the afternoon and the evening.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

About 8:00 Ellen showed up at the hospital. Kurt had closed his eyes for a while. He heard Headmaster Carlson telling her what the nurse had told them earlier. She started to cry.

"Kurt's been in there with him ever since they let us up here. He's been singing to him on and off for hours. I knew they were seeing each other, but that boy loves your son. No doubt. He was sobbing earlier. He's calmed down now that he can sit with Thad."

"They've been together for nearly 3 months," Ellen said. "He's a sweet boy."

"He's one of the hardest working students we have. He's a good kid."

"Thank you for coming here and staying with him. I'm going to go in there." She shook the headmaster's hand and he left. She came in.

"Kurt, sweetheart. I'm here," Ellen said quietly.

Kurt opened his eyes. "He hasn't woken up yet, but I've been singing to him. He loves music. I thought it might help."

"Of course, sweetheart. Sing whenever you want."

Ellen pulled a chair up to the other side of Thad's bed.

"I'm not sure what's going on. Nurses come in every now and then and check on him, but no one seems to know when he's going to wake up. No one's really said much of anything."

"I'll try to get information out of the next nurse that comes in." She pulled out her phone and sent Donovan a text detailing Thad's injuries.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A woman entered the room about an hour later. "Mrs. Harwood?"

"Yes."

"I'm Nikita. I'm the night shift nurse."

"What can you tell me? No one's been in here since I arrived."

She detailed the same list of injuries that the headmaster had listed.

"When will he wake up?" she asked.

Kurt asked, "He's not in a coma, is he?"

"No, honey. He's just asleep. As for when he will wake up, I don't know. His body has been through a lot today. His vital signs all look good. He's not running a fever. His heart rate is good."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Ellen and Kurt spent the night in Thad's room. About 4:00am, Thad stirred a little. Kurt startled at Thad's movement. Thad opened his eyes.

"Mom? Kurt?"

"Yes, sweetheart. We're both here, she answered.

"Where am I? A hospital?"

"You were in an accident," Kurt said gently, trying not to cry.

"Right. I was coming to get you." He tried to move.

Ellen said, "Sweetheart, try not to move too much. Your whole left side is pretty banged up. You had to have surgery."

"Oh. I'm thirsty."

Kurt got up and poured him water and put the straw in his mouth so he could take a drink.

"I'm tired."

"Go back to sleep, sweetheart. We'll be here when you wake up," Ellen assured him.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The same scenario played out several times. Thad would wake up, realize he was in the hospital, vaguely remember the accident and ask for a drink. The doctor came in around 10:00.

"His vitals have stayed good ever since the surgery. He's waking and is coherent when he is awake. Things are looking good. His arm will be in the cast for 6 weeks. His shoulder should heal in less time than that. With the extent of the injuries, he'll need to be in a wheel chair until he can bear weight on his leg because he can't use crutches. He could be in the leg brace for 6-12 months. It depends on how quickly his bone heals. His ribs will take time to heal, but wrapping is no longer recommended."

"How long will he need to stay here?"

"Well, that depends on how he's doing. Probably three days. We need to see how he handles eating. He's going to need someone to take care of him."

"I can take care of him. School gets out this week. By the time he's released, it will be over and I can take care of him."

"We'll discuss the options."

"I'll stop by again tomorrow to check on him," the doctor said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I thought you two had decided to spend June and July in Seattle and the first two weeks of August in Florida with us."

"That was the plan, yes. But this changes our plan. Thad won't be able to fly for quite a while."

"You'll have to discuss this with him. Spending the whole summer in Ohio to take care of him? I'm not sure what he'll think of that."

"I'm sure he'll absolutely hate the idea of needing to be taken care of. No one any age likes to face the fact that they can't do much of anything for themselves. Needing help to do everything from going to the bathroom to showering will be a hard thing to face. I don't want him to have to go to a hospice or something and have strangers take care of him when I can do it myself."

Thad spoke up. They hadn't noticed that he was awake because he hadn't opened his eyes. "Kurt is right. I hate the idea that I can't do anything for myself. I'm sure at some point when all these painkillers wear off and I'm not so sleepy, I'll be really angry about the whole thing. But I'd take being in Ohio with Kurt over being in hospice somewhere any day."

Kurt moved closer to Thad. "I will take care of you. You won't need to go to a hospice facility."

"We could rent one of those furnished places you found. I'm sure my parents would pay for it in exchange for your fabulous 24-hour care." He smiled, but then winced at the pain. "It's probably way cheaper than hospice or a full-time caregiver."

"I'm sure it would be." Ellen said. "How much were the apartments?"

"$395 a month. They're small efficiencies, basically hotel rooms. I think they are probably just older versions of what were going to live in when we went to Seattle."

"Sounds like it. If Thad's feeling okay about us leaving, maybe we can go see them this afternoon so we can make an educated decision quickly."

"It's fine with me. I can't move and I only stay awake for like 10 minutes. I'd rather know where I'm going when I get out in a few days."

"Alright then, Kurt, let's go have a look at these apartments."

Kurt pulled his phone out and got the address and pulled it up on a map. He got up and led Ellen down to his Navigator.

"Do you have a bag or luggage somewhere?" Kurt asked realizing that Ellen just had her leather satchel with her.

"No, I just left the meeting I was in and went to the airport. I bought a ticket for the first flight here."

"Okay. We can stop by Target or something and you can get the things you need on the way back. And we'll get Thad some drinks he likes and some chocolate. Chocolate's good for everything."

Kurt drove to the complex and the manager told them about both of the available units. One of the units was in one story building and it was close to the parking lot. The end apartment was the one available.

"Could we see that one please?" Ellen asked.

"Sure. Follow me."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Give us a few minutes. We'll be right back."

Kurt and Ellen went outside to talk.

"Well, it's ugly as I'll get out on the inside," Ellen said laughing. "But it's clean. It has an almost walk-in shower and it's on the first floor."

"I know you said money isn't an issue, but I want to make sure you understand that I don't have any money to put toward an apartment if I don't work and I won't be able to work and take care of Thad."

"I know, sweetheart. Donovan and I will cover all of the expenses - even your groceries and gasoline to take Thad to therapy. You do know how to cook, right? I mean you two stayed in the condo in Florida all week and didn't starve and we only saw bills from the grocery store, not restaurants."

"Yes, we cooked. I can cook. It was just me and my dad from the time I was 8 until this past fall. And he can't make toast still."

Ellen laughed. "Well, then if you're willing to undertake the task of Thad's rehabilitation, we will cover the expenses. And if he's well enough to come to Florida in August, then we'll pay for your plane tickets."

"You're sure about all of this? It's a lot of money."

"Consider the option of me taking a 2-month leave of absence or hiring someone to stay with Thad while I work all day, plus there would be the issue of how to get Thad to Seattle. You can do the math. I'd never get anyone for less than $10 an hour x 10 hours a day x 5 days a week for 10 weeks or more."

"$5000 or more."

"Precisely. The rent on this place and your expenses will be about a third of that. Let's go back inside."

Ellen opened the door and Kurt followed her in.

"I have a few questions."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I saw that each unit has an air conditioner. Are the utilities included in the rent?"

"Yes."

"What are the options for the rental agreement? By the week, the month? A lease?"

"We can do all of those."

"Alright then," Ellen pulled out her calendar. Turning to Kurt she asked, "When does football camp start?"

"August 7th."

"We'll need," she paused counting, "11 weeks - from today through August 7th. Is there a penalty for moving out early?"

"Not of you give two weeks notice."

"So, you two could still come to Florida, if Thad's recovered enough."

"Sounds good," Kurt said.

"Please fill out these forms," the manager handed Ellen a clipboard and a pen.

A few minutes later, Ellen had filled everything out and handed the manager her credit card to put the deposit and the first month's rent on.

"Thank you, Mrs. Harwood."

"Here's the key for the apartment." Kurt took it and put it on his key ring.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Let's go back and look in the apartment to check what size that bed was. We'll need to get some sheets while we're out."

Kurt looked around the apartment while Ellen determined that the bed was a full size bed. He used his phone to make a list of everything he could think of that they would need.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

He looked up from his phone. "Yes. I was making a shopping list. I know where there's a Goodwill. Let's go there before we go to Target. Most of what we need, we won't need after we move back to Dalton at the end of the summer. I don't want to spend a fortune buying all new stuff."

"You're driving. Take me wherever you think we can find what you'll need."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Let's take two carts. How about you find what we need for the bed? I'm going to go find the stuff we need for the kitchen. Meet me up by the men's clothes. Thad's going to need basketball shorts to wear over that brace thing they've got him in."

"Good plan."

Fifteen minutes later, they were looking through the clothes.

"He'll probably need size large to make it easy to get them up over that brace. He can just use the drawstring to keep them up." Ellen started looking through the shorts.

Kurt went to look through the tanks to find some that would be easy to get on, but he decided that buying some t-shirts and turning them into tanks would work better when he thought about the fact that Thad would have some kind of sling and would need the shirts to have shoulders.

Ellen walked over to where Kurt was looking. "This is what there is." Kurt looked through the stack and pulled out 4 pairs of shorts. He picked some t-shirts and put them in his cart.

"Pillows," Kurt said. "I bet we'll need extra pillows to prop him up in the bed or put under his knees or whatever."

Kurt walked through the furniture section to get back to the pillows. He saw a shower bench and put it in his cart.

"If you grab a few clothing items here, we can wash and dry them with this stuff and you can just stay at the apartment until whenever you have to go back."

"That's a good idea. I'll just grab a few t-shirts and shorts or skirts. Maybe there's even a pair of shoes."

"What size shoes do you wear?"

"8."

"I'll look for some shoes."

Ellen found three outfits fairly quickly. Kurt brought over 5 pairs of shoes that had barely been worn. Ellen slipped off her heels and tried them all on.

"These are nice. These are $80 shoes. She put the Keen sandals in the cart with the clothes she had found. "Let's go."

They got in line and Ellen paid for everything. On the way out the door she said, "Well, you get the shopping guru prize for the day. $100 for all of that?"

"Definitely a good deal. I bet one of those shower benches is $40 at a medical supply place."

She had him stop right outside the door. "I'm switching to those sandals right now. I don't even care how stupid this looks. I am not going shopping in these heels."

Kurt laughed. "I wouldn't either." Kurt pulled the sandals out of the bag and handed them to Ellen. She had stuffed the stockings she was wearing in her satchel when she was trying clothes on. She switched the shoes quickly.

"Alright. Much better. To Target or wherever we can get the rest of what we need."

Kurt put the bags in the back seat and they headed off.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They had been gone from the hospital for nearly 5 hours. When they got back, Thad was barely asleep and when he heard them come in he opened his eyes. Kurt put the bag of treats from Target on the tray with the ice water on it. He sat down in the chair and took Thad's hand.

Ellen was still standing and recounted their adventures. "We got an apartment. Kurt is the king of bargain shopping and we bought you clothes, me clothes and sandals, bed linens, plates, pots and pans, even a shower bench - all for $100. We went to a laundromat and washed everything. Kurt washed all of the kitchen stuff and cleaned the apartment kitchen. It's all ready for you two to move in once you're released."

"Wow, you two were quick."

"Kurt's very organized."

"I know." Thad smiled and squeezed Kurt's hand.

"I need to ask you a few questions. How's your memory doing? I need to know whether to allow the school to send your exams here to the hospital for you to take or whether you want me to get them postponed."

"I'd rather do it now. Even though I feel awful. I don't want to have to put off finishing the semester."

"Okay, sweetheart. I'll go call Headmaster Carlson so he can get everything set up."

Ellen stepped out of the room.

Kurt got up as soon as she left and moved the chair so he could get close enough to Thad to kiss him. He was very gentle. "I'm so glad you're okay. I know you're all banged up, but that can heal." Kurt started to cry. He wiped the tears off his face. He leaned close again and kissed Thad again. "I love you. I'll help you get better." He put the chair back where it was. He stepped down a bit and opened the bag and took out some juice boxes and a bag of mini chocolate bars and put them on the tray. He threw the bag out and sat back down in the chair and took Thad's hand.

"I love you too."

"I missed you. My room's done. Did you guys finish the arrangement for the song?"

"Yes. Didn't you get the email with the sheet music?"

"I haven't checked my email today or yesterday. Yesterday, I did laundry, packed up my stuff to bring back to Dalton, made us lunch and then came here when your mom called. I'll look at it the next time you're napping."

"We'll just be singing like a regular school choir, standing in formation somewhere on the stage. Probably in front of the risers where the seniors will be standing."

"Makes sense."

"You're singing lead. Blaine's voice is nice for pop, upbeat songs, but yours is so much better for this type of song."

"Thanks."

"How's the apartment?"

"It's functional. It's mostly just like a hotel room, a little bigger. It has an almost walk-in shower, so I'll be able to get you in the shower easier, once you're allowed to shower."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Our summer plans won't be what we had planned at all."

Kurt got up and looked Thad straight in the eyes. "My summer plans were to spend every bit of time with you that I could. I'm still going to get to do that. You're here. Yesterday I was so afraid that I had lost you." Kurt was crying again. "We're together. It's fine that we stay in Westerville. We can go to Seattle when you're better."

"You're right. You're right. Kiss me?"

Kurt put his hand gently on the right side of Thad's face. He ran his thumb down his cheek. He kissed him gently.

Ellen came back in the room. "Someone will in contact tomorrow about the details, but you should be able to take the exams here in the hospital or if you are released by Tuesday, you can take them at the school. You'll have to stay in the apartment because your room is on the third floor and there's no elevator in the dorm wing. There are accessible rooms on the main floor of the dorm if for some reason you aren't able to walk up and down the stairs by the time school starts again. You and Kurt can be assigned to one of them. But it seemed like too much work to me to move everything down to one of those rooms and then to the apartment the end of this week."

"Moving everything twice makes no sense. You're right," Kurt said. "I'll pack all of your stuff and take it to the apartment," Kurt said to Thad.

"I can help. I'm going to stay until they release him."

They talked when Thad was awake and just sat quietly when he slept. Kurt studied the sheet music the best he could. A couple of hours later when he had been asleep for a while, Ellen spoke quietly.

"Kurt, you're going to need to go get some sleep in your bed. I know you have exams tomorrow and you need to do well. It's getting late. I know you don't want to leave, but you really need to head out soon."

"I know you're right, but I just can't." Kurt started crying again.

"Oh, honey. He's going to be okay." She got up and handed him a tissue box.

"I know. It was hard enough to leave this afternoon, but I knew we had to do those things to be able to get him released. I just can't leave him here overnight."

"He'll be fine."

"I can't."

"Honey, there's something going on that you're not telling me."

"A drunk driver killed my mother. She was still alive when they brought us to the hospital, but they put me in the pediatric ward and she died during the night."

"Oh, God. Honey, I didn't know."

"I know, but I can't leave him here overnight."

"Alright, alright. You can stay. But you have to go to school tomorrow at least long enough to take your tests."

"I will."

"Do you have full coverage on your SUV?"

"I don't know, actually. Why?"

"Well, I was thinking I'd go back to the apartment and shower and sleep and come back in the morning."

"Let me call my dad and find out."

A few minutes later, Kurt hung up. "My dad says that you can drive it."

"Then, I'll head out and go back. I'll bring you some breakfast when I come back in the morning, but you'll need to head to school. I know the schedule is different from what Headmaster Carlson said. What time is your first exam?"

"9:00."

"Alright. I'll see you in the morning. Try to sleep somehow."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt got up and looked around the room. He found an extra pillow and a sheet in the cabinet where patients could put clothes. He pulled them out. He slipped his shoes off and very carefully climbed into bed with Thad. He pulled the arm rail up and lay on his side not bumping into Thad. It wasn't particularly comfortable, but it was better than another night in the chair.

The night nurse came in. Kurt heard her, but pretended to stay asleep. He figured he'd have a better chance of staying where he was if someone had to get up the nerve to wake him up to make him move. She checked Thad's vitals and left.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, Ellen was back. She found Kurt sleeping in Thad's bed. She walked up to him and gently laid her hand on his shoulder.

"Honey, you've got to wake up and head to school. It's 8:00. I brought you an Egg McMuffin and a black coffee. There's cream and sugar in the bag if you want to add it."

Kurt lowered the side rail and sat up. "Thank you." He took the coffee bag first and pulled the creamers out. She opened the lid and he dumped them in. She handed him his keys. He stood up and took the coffee cup. "Where did you park?"

"Not far from where we were yesterday."

"I'll be back as soon as I can. Thank you for not making me leave last night."

She nodded.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt jumped in the shower and put his uniform on quickly and headed off to take his American Literature exam. After lunch, he had his Trigonometry final. He only had one other final the next day - Chemistry.

He made it to the exam on time. He breezed through the questions and finished the exam before the end of the allotted time. He took his exam to the front and asked to be excused. His teacher nodded and he quietly left the room.

He left the building and got back in the Navigator and headed to the apparel shop. He picked up all of the jackets and headed back to school. Since he had been able to leave early, he made it back in time to have lunch before heading to his second exam.

After he finished his finished his Trigonometry final, he left the building and started bringing the jackets in from the Navigator. He had to make two trips. He came in with the second load and the rest of the Warblers were already in the room.

"Where have you been all weekend? We know you went home, but we've been trying to call you and just gotten your voicemail." Jeff said.

Kurt said, "I'll tell everyone at once."

Wes called the meeting to order. "Warbler Kurt has asked to speak first."

Kurt stood. "I have everyone's jackets. I'll hand them out in just a few minutes. Over the weekend, Thad was in a car accident. He's in the hospital just west of Columbus, in Dublin. He should be released in a couple of days. He's banged up pretty bad. His left shoulder was dislocated, but it's been put back in place. His left radius and femur are broken, his has 2 broken ribs. He has a mild concussion and a lot of bruising and quite a few cuts on his face and left arm. He was hit by a drunk driver."

Murmuring and whispering broke out within the group.

"He's fine otherwise. He doesn't have any brain damage or anything life threatening wrong with him, which is remarkable. He may be able to perform with us on Saturday, but he won't really be able to sing with much support. He'll be in a wheel chair for 6-8 weeks until his leg heals enough that he can put weight on it. With the shoulder injury and the broken arm, he won't be able to use crutches to get around." Kurt sat down.

"Please tell him that we're all thinking about him," Wes said.

"I will."

"Today's rehearsal will be more difficult than I thought. Without Thad here, someone else will need to play the piano and someone will need to pay close attention to what we're singing. Actually, give me a minute." Wes stood and left the room. A few minutes later, he came back with Mr. Browning.

"Alright, let's give this a shot. Mr. Browning will play with you, Kurt. After a couple of times through we'll see if we can do it without the piano."

Kurt and Mr. Browning sat down on the piano bench and agreed on how to split the parts they were playing. The group rehearsed for about 30 minutes using the piano.

"All right. Everyone in your places. Let's have Mr. Browning listen since Thad's not here," Wes ordered.

They made it through the song.

Mr. Browning spoke. "I need you to stand in a circle. I'm sorry Wes. With all the voices coming from the same location, more or less, I can't pick out who's singing the wrong notes. So, form a circle. Basses to my left, working around to Kurt standing to my right. Lowest to highest. Richard, stand opposite Kurt in the circle."

Everyone moved to follow the directions. They started the song again. Mr. Browning stood in the center and turned and listened as they sang.

"The baritones are flat. They're pulling the song out of key." He took the baritones back to the piano to work on their parts. "Right there, at the key change on 'a thousand years', that's where you guys are losing your parts. Let's go over that a few times."

He brought them back to the group after about 10 minutes.

"Alright, start again." He walked around listening carefully and looking at the sheet music carefully. "Much better," he said. "Again." He walked around correcting people as needed.

Wes spoke after they finished. "Well done everyone. We'll meet again tomorrow after the final final and we'll work on it more. Everyone please follow Kurt to the back table."

Wes stayed back and thanked Mr. Browning. "Without Thad, this is a lot harder than normal. He has perfect pitch and he does our arrangements. Thank you for stepping in at the last minute." They talked for a few minutes.

Kurt called the guys names as he got to their jacket in his stack. Most of the guys took their blazers off and put the letter jackets on instead. Wes had finished talking to Mr. Browning and went back to see the jackets.

"They look good. The Warbler patches came out nice," Wes said.

Once everyone had their jackets, Kurt took off. He took his jacket and Thad's and went back to their room to change into his Dalton sweats and t-shirt and grabbed the books he and Thad needed to study for their finals the next day. He grabbed underwear, socks and shoes for Thad to add to the clothes he had in the Navigator and he left for the hospital.


	6. Chapter 6

"I'm glad you're here, Kurt. Can I take your SUV to go collect the stuff from Thad's car? It was towed to a body shop, but they called and said it's not salvageable, but they removed everything from his car and I need to go pick it up."

"Sure." He handed her his keys. "I'm parked in the same lot, but farther away from the building."

"I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll bring you something to eat for dinner. Just tell me anything you'll eat."

"Um. A salad from anywhere, with chicken and ranch dressing will be fine. Thank you."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt carefully climbed back into bed with Thad. He lay facing him this time. About a half hour later, Thad woke up.

"So, I wasn't dreaming last night. You were sleeping with me, weren't you?"

"Yeah. You were asleep when I had to leave this morning for school." Kurt raised up and kissed him gently. "I couldn't leave you here. I'm staying every night until you're released. I brought your books. I have clothes and shoes for when you're ready to go too. Your letter jacket's in our room. They look good. Your arrangement of the song is beautiful. We missed you. We had to go get Mr. Browning to help us."

"Hopefully, they'll spring me soon. Maybe even tomorrow, but probably Wednesday. I took my finals earlier. I have two more. I had a hard time staying awake long enough to do it. Hopefully, I didn't do terribly. I've worked hard all semester and I hope I didn't blow that."

"I'm sure you did fine. You studied a lot last week."

"I just feel sluggish. I think it's all the pain meds."

"Probably. Are you in pain still?"

"Some. I think the hardest part is that I can't readjust myself. My ribs hurt too much to move."

"I'm just so glad you're going to be okay." Kurt kissed him on the cheek. "I can help you review if you need to."

"How about I just hold your hand and take a nap."

"That's fine too."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next two days passed very similarly to Monday, except that when Kurt arrived Wednesday afternoon, Thad was sitting up in a wheel chair coming out of the bathroom when he arrived.

"I did it."

"Did what?" Kurt asked.

"Went to the bathroom. Now, I can leave."

"Really? I'll go get your clothes and be right back." Kurt was gone for 10 minutes.

When he came back in the room, the doctor had just arrived and was waiting for him to return. He went over all of the care that Thad would need. He gave them a name of a doctor's office closer to the school for Thad to see for follow up care on the surgery site and to remove the staples. His rehab care was being transferred to a therapy clinic near the school and the apartment as well. He would return to the surgeon's office for his follow up visit in a few weeks. Once everyone's questions had been answered, the nurse came in and instructed Kurt on how to bathe and dress Thad. She helped Thad get the clothes on that Kurt brought. And then they got him into the wheel chair.

Ellen had a list of things they needed to get on the way back to the apartment. The tricky part was getting Thad into the Navigator with as sore as his ribs were. They finally got him in and they stopped by the durable medical supply store to pick up the wheelchair and went to a pharmacy for the other supplies.

It took both of them to get him into the wheelchair once they got back to the apartment.

Once they were inside, they got him into the bed. "Honey, I just don't see how you can go to school tomorrow like you want to, or perform on Saturday."

"I'm going," Thad stated resolutely.

Ellen and Kurt let him rest. They moved over to the kitchenette area. "One of us needs to go buy groceries," Ellen said. "Since you're the one that will be doing the cooking, it makes more sense for you to go." She handed him $100 in cash. "Just stock up."

Kurt took the money and left.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thursday was hard. Thad insisted on being at Dalton. He wanted to see everyone and practice with the group. Kurt enlisted the help of Nick and Jeff to pack his and Thad's things up. He got them to carry the boxes to his Navigator every time he filled two up. Once the room was empty, they headed down to the music room, which was where Thad had been the whole time Kurt was packing up their room.

The Warblers all arrived at 2:00 for their rehearsal. Thad was swarmed with well wishes and everyone was really excited to see him.

Wes called everyone to order. "We're glad to see Warbler Thad back with us today. Will everyone please stand in a circle the way we have been practicing so that Thad can be in the center and listen to us. Once he doesn't hear any mistakes, we'll move and stand in the formation we'll be in for the ceremony.

Thad listened and corrected a few issues. They moved into three lines and started the song again, this time with Thad singing with them.

"Let's do it one more time and then I think we're good. We'll rehearse once before the ceremony Saturday morning in the auditorium."

After the last run through, Wes dismissed everyone, but most of them hung around and talked to Thad. Kurt could tell that he was completely worn out. Ellen had been sitting at the back of the room watching the whole time. Kurt looked back at her and she nodded.

Kurt leaned over and whispered into Thad's ear. "You really need to rest soon. I want you to get better."

A few minutes later, Thad spoke up, "It was great to see all of you. I gotta go get some rest. My ribs hurt most of anything and all that singing did not help them feel better."

Everyone said their goodbyes and the three of them left. Kurt took one more sweep of their room to make sure that he hadn't left anything behind and they turned in their keys before they left.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Are you sure you two are going to be okay? I feel like I should stay. How will you get him to the school on Saturday?"

"Oh, I forgot to mention, the school is sending one of the wheelchair lift equipped school vans out to pick us up Saturday morning. It's the debate team's van."

"Well, that takes a load off my mind. I still hate to go. But I was technically supposed to be in London yesterday."

"It's okay, Mom. If we need help, we'll call the doctor's office for them to send a home healthcare nurse out."

"Alright. Be careful. I'll call as soon as I get there." Ellen's airport car service pulled up in the parking lot. "I love you, honey. Get well and follows the doctor's instructions."

"I will, Mom. I love you too."

"Bye, Kurt. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt climbed into bed with Thad and held his hand. "I'd snuggle you, but I know that would hurt. This will just have to do for now. Let's just take a nap and I'll make dinner when we wake up."

About two hours later, Thad woke up. "Kurt, I'm sorry to wake you up." Thad squeezed Kurt's hand.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I need to take my medicine and I have to go to the bathroom."

"Okay."

Kurt got up and put the wheelchair next to the bed. They removed the arm rails off to make it easier to transfer him into the chair, but nothing made it easy. Doing it alone was really hard to do. He eventually got him in the chair and pushed him to the bathroom. Getting him out was easier than in. Thad could lean against the counter in the bathroom and Kurt turned his head trying to give Thad some privacy. He helped him wash his hands by letting Thad lean on him giving him use of both hands. Kurt got him back into the chair and pushed him over to the small kitchen table.

"Here's your pills. I'm going to make us dinner."

"Sit down for a minute first, okay?"

Kurt sat down in the chair across from Thad. "Okay."

"Come sit next to me."

Kurt moved to the other chair.

"I can't thank you enough for being willing to do this for me. Really."

Kurt took his hand. "You know I love you, right? How could I not be willing to take care of you?"

"A lot of people walk away. I think most people our age would have just let me go to rehab at a hospice facility for the summer, not taken on the full-time caregiver role."

"Well, I'm not most people."

"I know. I really do. But we need to talk about something."

"What?"

"I appreciate the fact that you're trying to give me privacy in the bathroom, but that can't last. You realize that right? I want to shower desperately. I haven't had a real shower in 5 days. I can't shower on my own. My cast is waterproof and we can take the brace off and I can take a shower sitting on that stool. But I can't wash myself. I'll be working to stay sitting upright on the stool and using my right arm to do that. I can't lean over or raise my left arm."

"I know."

"I know you know, but are you going to be okay with the fact that you're going to have to undress me before we get in the bathroom? There's not enough room in there for me to get dressed or undressed in there. And I can't do any of it on my own. And you're going to have to get in the shower with me or the floor will be soaked."

"I will do whatever it takes to take care of you. I may be scared because I've never done anything like this, but I won't back out or let you down."

"You're not going to let me down. I just don't want you to feel pressured because we weren't to that point in our relationship."

"It's okay. I trust you and you trust me. We can do this."

"Okay. We'll try tomorrow morning. If we can't make it work, we'll have to come up with plan B."

"Alright." Kurt kissed Thad on the cheek and stood up. He started the soup he had planned for dinner. "Do you think you can stand to be in the chair until dinner's done or do you want me to put you back in bed?"

"I'll stay here until we can eat."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I thought about this a lot last night while we were listening to music and while you napped. I think it will work best if I actually shower first, then come out to get you and then help you into the shower. That way once you're done, I can actually get you ready."

"Alright. I'll be right here."

Kurt came back 10 minutes later in his boxers. "I've set the stool in the shower. We'll get you sat on the stool and then I'll take the brace off and help you rotate into the shower and then get in with you and wash and rinse you."

"Let's give it a try."

Kurt put a towel in the wheel chair and left the arms off. He took Thad's shorts off once he had him standing. He took his shirt off once he was seated in the chair. He managed to get Thad into the chair more easily than he did the last time. They got to the bathroom door and Kurt went in then pulled the chair into the room as far as he could.

"We're going to do a dance. I'm going to stand you up, undress you the rest of the way, and rotate you so that you can sit on top of the toilet. Then I'll move you from there to the shower seat."

"Let's give it a try."

They worked together and managed to pull it off. Kurt took the brace off, grabbed a washcloth and the pitcher in case he needed it and took off his boxers and got into the shower. It took a lot of maneuvering and longer than either of them had anticipated, but Kurt managed to get Thad washed up. He grabbed a towel and put it over Thad's shoulders to keep him from getting too cold while he dried himself. He put his boxers back on and put his towel on the floor and rotated Thad's leg back out of the shower. Once Thad was dry, they got the brace back on him and Kurt got him back in the chair.

"How about I just sit here in the chair for a while? You can run the sheets, all the towels we just used down and our clothes to the laundry area. I'll just listen to some music. And yes, I know I'm just in my boxers. I'm too tired to care right now. But I'm also too tired to get out of the chair."

"Alright. I'll be back as soon as everything's done." Kurt kissed him gently.

"When you get back we have to figure out a way for me to kiss you better than that."

Kurt laughed. "You can figure that out while I'm gone."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt came back an hour later. He remade the bed and put the clothes and towels away. "So did you figure it out?"

"Yep. I think so."

"Do tell."

"Come push me to the kitchen."

Kurt pushed him over to the table.

"Stand me up and then grab the two kitchen chairs and put them one on each side of me."

He did.

"Now, help me up onto the table and push the chairs in so I can put my feet on the chairs."

Kurt moved quickly to get his left foot in the chair as he helped him up onto the table. He moved the other chair over and Thad pulled his leg up, put his foot in the chair and released the knee on the brace.

"Now, come stand in front of me."

Kurt did.

"Much better."

Kurt leaned forward and they kissed. Thad wrapped his right arm around Kurt's neck to help balance himself. They stayed that way for about 10 minutes.

"You're getting tired. I can tell. Let me help you into bed before you get too tired to be of any help."

"One more kiss."

"Of course." Kurt kissed him. "Right leg back down to the floor." Kurt said as he pushed the chair out of the way and put the wheelchair in its place. Kurt helped him rotate back into the chair. He pushed him over to the bed and stood him up and got him back into the bed.

"Nap time? I know it's lunch time, but a little nap first?" Thad asked.

"Sure." Kurt went around the bed and got in and lay down as close to Thad as he could without bumping into him.

"I want to hold you so bad," That said.

"Once your ribs aren't hurting so bad, I'll lie closer and we can at least snuggle. Once you're better, you can hold me."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, Kurt managed to get Thad into his uniform except for the jacket. It wouldn't fit over his cast. He just put it in his lap and decided he'd wear it like a cape for their song.

The van arrived and Kurt loaded Thad in and strapped the wheelchair into place. They performed the song and everyone seemed to enjoy hearing them sing. After their song, they waited off stage for the ceremony to end and they were going to head back to the apartment. The non-senior Warblers had another idea.

"We got the school to agree to let the van driver take you two to lunch with us and take you back home," Jeff said excitedly.

"That's nice. Where are we going?" Thad asked.

"Wherever you want. We didn't know if you had any restrictions on what you can eat."

"Not really. How about pizza? That's pretty easy to eat. It's not really a matter of the eating it that's a problem. It's not spilling it on the way to my mouth that's the problem."

"Got it. Pizza it is then."

Kurt loaded Thad into the van and they drove to a pizza buffet close to the school. Kurt pushed Thad inside and waited for everyone to get there. The restaurant had a small party room that wasn't being used that they let the Warblers sit in. Kurt pushed Thad through the line and Nick and Jeff went with them and carried two plates each picking up pizza for all four of them.

After everyone had gotten some food and sat down, Nick stood up and said, "We wanted to thank Thad for the beautiful arrangement he did of our song and for coming to work on it with us and sing with us when it would have definitely been easier on him to bow out."

Thad nodded. "You're welcome. I'm glad I came. Everyone did a great job and we sounded really good."

They all ate and talked and ate some more. When it came time to pay, Kurt and Thad didn't get a check. Kurt looked at the waitress and she quietly said, "Someone put your food on their own bill and told me not to tell you who."

"Well, if you can manage it, thank whoever it was for us."

She nodded.

Before everyone got up to leave, Jeff said, "Some of us live in the Columbus area and we'll be home during different parts of the summer. We'll call you two and see if we can come visit when we're around, if that's okay."

"Sure," Kurt said. "We'd like that."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"That was fun, but exhausting," Thad said when they were back in the apartment and he was back in bed, still wearing his uniform.

"Well, we don't have anywhere else to go until the middle of this next week to get your staples take out."

"That just sounds awful."

"I know. But I figure it will feel better with them out."

"I'm sure it will. What would feel better would be for my ribs to stop hurting. I can hold my arm still and my leg still, but I have to breathe."

"It's going to get worse before it gets better. I wish I had taken one of your pain pills with us. You can't take one now or it will mess your schedule up. You'll have to wait. I'm so, so sorry. I won't leave without them again."

"Kurt, come here."

Kurt stood next to the bed.

"I'm not upset. I'm just in pain. I could have taken the bottle with me. I thought we were coming straight back here afterwards too. Maybe you can just think of something to distract me that I can do laying completely still."

"I could read to you or we can watch a movie."

"Read to me. I can just lay here with my eyes closed in this position, which hurts less than sitting up enough to watch something would."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt cut Thad's dinner up into bite size pieces so he could feed him while he lay in the bed. "I can't, Kurt. I need to be completely still. No talking, no chewing."

"Just another hour, love. I'm so sorry. I'm going to run to the library. I'll warm this up and you can eat it after you get to take the pain pill."

Kurt came back 40 minutes later with a stack of audio books. "I got a bunch of different kinds. This way I won't go hoarse reading to you."

Kurt put in the CD of the book he was reading earlier and found where he had left off and let it play from that point. He brought a kitchen chair over and sat next to the bed so he could be near Thad without making the bed jostle him by getting in it.

Twenty minutes later, Kurt got up, paused the CD and got Thad's pills and gave them to him. "Here you go. I won't let that happen ever again. I'm so sorry."

He put the pills in Thad's mouth and put the straw in between his lips so he wouldn't have to move to take a drink. Thad swallowed the pills, but remained as still as humanly possible. Kurt unpaused the CD.

Fifteen minutes later, Thad spoke. Kurt paused the CD. "I have to go to the bathroom. I've had to go for like an hour, but the pain pills are taking the edge off finally."

Kurt helped him to the bathroom and since he was up, he took Thad's clothes off and just left his boxers on with no pants. Kurt helped him back into bed.

"I'll eat what you made me."

"I'll go warm it up." Kurt brought the plate of food back and fed it to Thad. Once he had finished, Kurt washed the plate and made sure the kitchen area was clean. He went back over and sat in the chair next to the bed.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Are you okay for a little bit? I'm going to shower if you are."

"I'm fine."

Kurt showered and came in his boxers. "Is it okay if I get in the bed? I can sleep on the couch if you need me to."

"No, please sleep here with me." Thad sounded tense. He reached out with his right hand to take Kurt's as he got in the bed.

"Is everything okay?"

"Not really. I don't think everything is okay with you either. I hear your whimpering during the night sometimes, but only since my accident."

"I didn't know I was disturbing you. I'm sorry."

"Kurt, turn over and prop up on your arm so I can see you better." He waited for Kurt to do it. "I'm not upset with you. I'm just wondering what's going on."

"I told you that my mother died when I was young, when I was 8, but I never said how. I don't really ever talk about it. I don't want to talk about the details. She and I were hit by a drunk driver. I was taken to the pediatric ward and she was taken to the adult ward. She was alive when we were rescued, but she died during the night the first night I was in the hospital. Since your accident, the flashback nightmares have returned."

"That's why you wouldn't leave the hospital at night."

"Yeah."

"I'm having the same thing happen. It's making it hard to sleep since I've been off of whatever they had me on in the hospital. Whatever it was knocked me out to the point of not dreaming or at least not remembering it when I woke up."

"We're a mess," Kurt stated sadly.

"We'll be okay. We're both here. We'll get better. Tonight I want to see if we can sleep closer to each other. You keep trying to sleep all the way on the edge and while I appreciate that you're trying not to bump me, I think it's making you tense and me unable to sleep because I've gotten used to you touching me in my sleep."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Over the next few days, they found a rhythm to their new life. Thad got his staples out. Kurt got a handicap hangtag. After therapy, they went to stores that had motorized carts and just browsed through whatever store they were in or do their grocery shopping. It gave Thad a freedom he didn't have anywhere else. He could move around completely on his own.

Thad put the audio books he wanted to listen to and movies they wanted to see on hold and Kurt would run in and grabbed them on the way back to their apartment.

Sometimes, they splurged on a shake or drink of some sort on the way home.

They Skyped with Donovan and Ellen a few times a week, keeping them updated on Thad's progress.

As Thad's ribs healed, the rest of his progress sped up. Once he could sit up for longer periods of time, he was able to watch movies more easily. His whole mood improved once he could enjoy Kurt taking him out in the wheelchair for walks and he could get in and out of the Navigator more easily.

A month after his accident, the physical therapist had him in a harness so he could start to put some minimal weight on his leg. He also started swimming in an infinity pool at the therapy clinic. That gave him another place where he could feel more free and move around. The swimming really helped with his shoulders that had stiffened up a lot with the dislocation and not being able to lift his arms because of his ribs.

Nearly six weeks after the accident, Thad's cast was removed. The doctor x-rayed his arm and found that it was completely healed. He was given a splint to wear when he was in therapy or doing anything that might cause him to fall for the next few weeks.

When he went back in for his arm to be rechecked, the doctor x-rayed his leg. The pins and bar had done their job and his bone had healed. He was given the release to bear weight on his leg for therapy, but he was given a forearm crutch to use until his leg had healed completely. He gradually built up his strength.

As it got closer to the time for football camp to start, he knew that he was not going to be able to do the job that he had requested. He emailed the coach and let him know. Surprisingly, the coach asked him to come anyway. He knew that Kurt was caring for him. Obviously Kurt had been in contact with the coach over the summer. He and Kurt were going to be housed on the first floor in the room they would share for the school year.

Kurt got his football camp schedule and he was given three afternoons off a week so that he could continue to take Thad to his therapy sessions.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"You know, I could probably shower all by myself now."

"Okay. I'll just sit out here in case you need help."

"I was teasing. I've gotten spoiled. You've taken such good care of me all summer. I've turned into a spoiled little prince."

"Never. Other than being mad about your situation, you've not been the least bit contrary all summer. And being upset about being in your situation was quite understandable. I can understand wanting your independence back though. If you want me to let you shower alone, I can do that."

"No, I don't actually want that. I'd like to do for you what you've done for me though, sometime soon. Once I can stand alone in the shower, I'm going to treat you to me bathing you."

"You don't have to."

"I know. I want to. Not to repay you, not like that. Just to do it for you because it's really relaxing and I want to do it for you."

"Okay. When you're better."

Kurt got in the shower and helped Thad. He still had trouble with his range of movement with his arms above his head and leaning over all the way. He could have done it on his own, but it would have been painful still.

"So, we're moving into the first floor next weekend. We'll get a nice big shower instead of the regular tub and shower we had last year."

"Mmm. Sounds interesting. I've never been in one of the rooms on the first floor."

"Well, they're a little larger, to accommodate a wheelchair. The bathrooms are larger too. And they have a roll-in shower. The whole bathroom is tiled, more like the locker room shower area. That way someone can transfer to a shower wheelchair and roll it into the shower area and shower alone."

"Nice."

"Of course, for us it means we can still shower together."

Kurt turned the water off and dried off and helped dry Thad off. He helped Thad get the leg brace back on and to stand up. Thad grabbed his crutch and he went back out into the main room. He sat on the side and slid up until he was leaning against the headboard. He took the leg brace off and put it next to the bed.

Kurt saw what he had done. "Did the doctor say you could sleep with it off?"

"Yes, last week. He wrote it on those papers he gave me, but I was still nervous. I'm feeling more confident now. I want us to sleep like we used to tonight."

Kurt turned off the lights and got into bed. He scooted toward the middle of the bed. So did Thad.

"Scoot closer," Thad said.

He did. As soon as he was close enough, Thad wrapped his hand around Kurt's neck and started to kiss him. This was a return to their passionate kissing from before the accident. Thad wanted Kurt to know how much he still loved him. Kurt kissed him back with just as much enthusiasm. They both ended up breathless.

Kurt turned over and scooted his back up against Thad. They got comfortable and for the first time in over two months, they slept the way they liked.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"How's your leg feeling?"

"Fine."

"No additional pain from sleeping with the brace off?"

"Nope. But I feel so much better. Not being able to hold you while we slept was torture."

"I missed it too. I didn't sleep really soundly though. Probably because I was afraid I'd move and hurt you. It will take a little while for me to relax again."

"Tonight we'll try it the other way. We'll switch sides of the bed and I'll be the little spoon."

"Are your ribs up for me holding you? I figured they were still too tender for that?"

"I don't know. We'll see what we can figure out tonight."

"Okay."

They lay in silence for a while. Thad ran his hand up and down Kurt's arm. Kurt turned over carefully. He put his hand on the side of Thad's face. "We have 6 days left here before we move back to Dalton. The summer is almost over. I'm glad I spent it with you. I love you." Kurt kissed him.

"I love you. It's going to be weird being back at school. I've gotten used to it just being the two of us here. I know several of the guys have come to visit over the summer and we've gone out and done things with them a few times, but it's just going to be a big change."

"And we're seniors. Our last year of high school. Exciting. Not scary anymore. After spending the whole summer with you here, I see that we can make it as adults. We've been adults all summer. I know your parents paid our rent, but that was due to issues beyond our control. But I'm not worried about being able to make it after high school."

"The hardest thing about starting this year will be that I can't walk on my own still, well not more than short distances. I'm still going to be in that chair. I had hoped that I would at least be out of the chair by the time classes started again."

"You're doing great. And classes don't start for a little over three weeks. Think how much better you are now than you were three weeks ago."

"You're right. What do you think about us going to the international competition?"

"I think it would be fun, but it's pretty expensive knowing that there's very little chance of us doing well since it's an open competition. College groups that have been able to practice all summer will be competing. I know we have the prize money from the national event. So, it's a toss up. We've lost almost a third of our group too. I think it may depend on how quickly we can turn ourselves back into a functional group. If the new members are terrible dancers or they have a hard time holding their parts, we may not be in any shape to compete in mid-September."

"The auditions for any new students will be the Monday after school starts. So, we'd only have about two weeks to learn new music. I don't honestly see how we can do it. Several of the guys were moved to new parts to make room for the younger members whose voices are too high still to sing lower parts. So, basically, over half the group would have to learn the four songs we sang last May."

"I'm leaning towards not going and focusing on sectionals. I think we need to look into competing in a cappella competitions too, not just show choir competitions. Show choirs with girls in them can do things that we just can't do - like all those fancy lifts and stuff that Vocal Adrenaline used to do. The Warblers can't compete with that. And the twirling skirts always give visual effects that our uniforms just can't come close to."

"I'll look into other competitions while you're out kicking footballs."

"I'm definitely stronger than I was at the beginning of the summer. I could barely lift and move you when we first got here. Now, it's much easier and not just because you're able to hold on better. I can push your wheelchair easier too."

"I spend all summer in physical therapy and you're the one with bigger muscles? How's that fair?"

"You like my big muscles," Kurt teased flexing his arm. "Oh well, it was worth a shot," he started laughing. "So, I'm not going to be on the cover of any muscle magazines."

"You're just right the way you are." Thad kissed his bicep.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Hey, what did I say back last spring. No insulting yourself. Or rolling your eyes when I say something nice"

Kurt interrupted, "You're right. I'm sorry. Thank you for saying you like me the way I am. I'm still working on that."

"I don't just like you, although I do like you a lot. I love you."

"I love you too. I'll keep working on liking myself more part."

"Good."

"You know, we never even unpacked most of the boxes we brought here."

"Well, I didn't need most of those clothes since I just stayed here most of the time, but we can re-sort everything if you want. We can open all of the boxes and decide if there are things in there we just don't need. We'll have to take the dishes and stuff we bought for the apartment back to Goodwill to donate or we'll have to pack them up to store under our beds at school. I guess we might as well just look through everything. We've got the whole week and I can sit on the couch and help now."

"That's probably what we should do. I packed everything that belonged to you in our room. You weren't there to give any input. So, there may very well be things in the boxes that don't fit or you don't like anymore or I could have packed up something you borrowed from someone, like a book or anything. I was in a hurry. I just packed as quickly and neatly as I could."

"Well then that's our plan for the next couple of days, besides me still going to therapy. We can start after we come back from today's session."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After lunch, Kurt pulled all of their clothing out of the boxes and sorted into categories all around the apartment.

"I think you need to try on your school slacks. Are they going to fit over that brace? Or do you need to order larger ones and let me tailor them at the waist?" He went over and helped Thad get the pants leg over his left leg and Thad did the rest. Kurt helped him stand so Thad could use his hands to fasten his pants.

"Well, it's a little tight, but not bothersome. I'd rather just live with it than buy new uniform pants. Hopefully by a few months from now, I won't have to wear it anymore anyway."

"Okay. So, I'll repack our uniforms and we'll move on to other things."

Kurt carried Thad's stack of short-sleeved shirts over to the couch and put the two kitchen chairs in front of him, one to each side of his legs. "'Yes' and 'no' stacks. Anything you want to try on, leave on the couch for afterwards."

"You've done this before," Thad teased.

"You have no idea. I think I had to go through three cullings at my house. I had a lot of clothes. And I'm going to look through what I kept, now that I've spent a whole summer without most of them." Kurt walked back over to the bed to sort his own stuff.

"Can you help me up? I want to try these on and look in the bathroom mirror."

"Sure. Do you want me to help you get them on so it goes faster?"

"If you want," he answered, which Kurt knew meant 'yes, please', but Thad didn't want to seem pathetic. It didn't take long and Kurt added the shirts to the appropriate piles. Kurt refolded all the shirts and put them in separate boxes. He added a couple of shirts from his own stack to the box of stuff they weren't keeping.

They went through all of their clothes. Most of the time was spent on Thad's stuff because Kurt had done a pretty thorough job the first time around.

They finished the clothes and Kurt remarked the boxes with their content and stacked them up.

He made dinner and they watched a movie afterwards. It was that time of year when it was too hot to enjoy being outside until evening, so they waited until after the movie for Kurt to push Thad around outside for an evening stroll.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning after breakfast, Kurt started them back on the process of sorting the contents of the boxes.

"The rest of these are non-clothing items that were in the room. Several of these, we've opened to get out books and DVDs. How do you want to do this? The chairs are higher than the couch. You could sit on one of the chairs and I can put a box on the couch for you to sort through. Put the items you don't want in a box to your right, on the floor?"

"That will work, I think. Let's try it."

Once all of the boxes had been gone through, Kurt started repacking the items that Thad wanted to keep. He moved the other boxes near the door.

"Friday morning after we go to physical therapy, we can drive into Columbus and try to sell the clothes and books you don't want. We can drop off whatever we've decided not to store in our dorm room too."

"Then we can go somewhere fun, like back to COSI or somewhere new. And out to dinner somewhere. It can be a joint birthday celebration, even though yours was a couple of months ago."

"My celebration that day was that you were here with me. It was a good day. We can go out Friday if you want though."

"Grab a button up shirt and a pair of regular shorts out of my box for me to wear Friday. I don't want to go out somewhere with you in basketball shorts and a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. The super casual stuff has been great for laying around in and for the ease of going to the bathroom, but I want to feel like myself again."

"We need to get your therapy sessions rescheduled when we go tomorrow. We're going to have to figure out when you can go first though. It can't be in the mornings, like it is now."

"I may end up having to find someone else to take me since you'll have football practice after Warblers rehearsal every day. We'll have to see how late the clinic offers appointments."

They talked while Thad sorted. Once he had finished, he had Kurt help him up and he lay in the bed for a while.

"It hurts more to lean over than I realized. I'm going to make sure to mention that tomorrow morning."

Kurt lay down next to him. "Do you want to rest? Or listen to a book or what?"

"Will you take the brace off? Then we can listen to the end of the book."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thursday morning, Kurt pulled out another one of Thad's regular clothing outfits and had him wear it, citing that he should feel like himself on his birthday. Kurt dressed in nice clothes too. At lunch, there was knocking on their door and Kurt opened the door to let several of the Warblers in. They had a cake, balloons and pizzas.

They all sang, "Surprise" in harmony, followed by a lovely version of "Happy Birthday."

Thad was definitely surprised. Kurt helped him up and he walked over to greet everyone. Then, they were the surprised ones.

"You're up!" Trent said excitedly. "That's amazing."

"I can walk short distances with the crutch and the brace on. At this point, I'm still in the wheelchair if we go out, but around here, once I'm up, I can walk around inside the apartment. It's great."

Kurt added, "We've been assigned to a first floor room. You'll all have to come down and visit us when school starts."

"We will. We'll have to have the Warblers parties in the first floor lounge until you can make it up the stairs," Jeff said.

"Put the pizzas on the table and the cake, um, on top of the fridge," Kurt said as he took the balloons from Nick and tied them to the back of one of the chairs. "You can put the drinks on the counter."

Kurt helped Thad get into the chair with the balloons on it. He grabbed a slice of pizza. "Come on, help me eat this."

The rest of the guys grabbed slices and sat around the room or stood.

"Thanks for coming. I had no idea. Kurt can be very sneaky when he wants to be it seems." Thad smiled.

They talked and ate until the pizza was gone and then talked some more. Kurt took the boxes out to the dumpster so they'd have room to put the cake on the table. Kurt took it down off the refrigerator and put it on the table and took the lid off. It had been decorated really beautifully. It had "Thad" written in a lovely script font, with "Happy 18th Birthday!" written underneath in small letters. Kurt took pictures and then pulled out some candles and a lighter and put them around the edge of the cake and lit them.

"Blow out the candles and make a wish," Kurt encouraged. He took more pictures. He pulled the candles back off and handed Thad a knife. Kurt grabbed the paper plates and put them on the table. Thad cut slices for everyone.

They picked a movie and squished together on the couch and floor and watched it on Kurt's laptop placed on one of the kitchen chairs. After the movie was over, everyone on the floor formed a semi circle facing the couch. Trent pulled a gift out of a bag he had stashed next to the couch and handed it to Thad.

"You didn't need to get me anything."

"Just open it," Nick said. "It's from all of the Warblers."

Thad unwrapped it. It was a spiral-bound, 8" x 11.5" book. He opened it up and he did a double take.

"It's all of the pieces that you've arranged for the Warblers since your freshman year. We sent off the handwritten pages and had them professionally printed. You can use them to help you get into music school this fall."

Thad was speechless at first. "This is the most amazing gift ever. Thank you." He looked through the pages, still shocked to see his name written on the first page of each piece on the "arranged by" line.

The guys stood and said their goodbyes and headed out.

"Thanks for coming!" Thad said as they were leaving.

Lots of "Happy birthday"s were heard on the way out.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Well, you are a very, very sneaky boyfriend, Mr. Kurt Hummel," Thad said as he took the few steps it took to get to where Kurt was standing. He leaned in and kissed him. "Thank you. I know that book had to have been your idea."

"You're welcome."

"I think it is time for my birthday snuggle."

"Birthday snuggle? That's an awesome idea."

Thad sat down on the edge of the bed and took the brace off, turned and lay back on the bed. Kurt lay down next to him.

"I'm glad you enjoyed your party."

"I did. You are a fabulous party planner. Well, a fabulous planner period." Thad kissed him. "Will you turn over so I can be the big spoon and snuggle you?"

"Of course."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A couple of hours later, they were awakened by Thad's phone ringing. It was his parents calling to wish him a happy birthday.

"They told me what my present is."

"What?"

"Two tickets to Disney World for whenever I'm able to go. And of course, plane tickets."

"Wow."

"Well, they said that it had been their plan for the two of us to go there for my birthday when were in Florida, but since I wasn't recovered enough yet for us to fly down this summer, we can go whenever I am."

"That will be a lot of fun. I've obviously never been before."

"We went once when I was little, but it will be a ton of fun to go with you."

"How about a sandwich for dinner? I'm not really all that hungry after all that pizza and the cake earlier."

"That's fine. I want to go to bed early anyway. We have a long day planned for tomorrow."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"The zoo was super fun. I'm beat though and I can imagine how tired you are. You had to push me around the whole place."

"It was worth it."

Kurt pushed Thad into the apartment and then helped him out of the chair once they got inside.

"Shower?" Thad asked.

"Definitely. Do you want to do those new stretches before or after the shower?"

"Umm. Before I guess. That way if I'm a little sore, the warm water will help."

"Alright. The hard part is going to be getting you down and up off the floor. Maybe if you sit on the edge of the couch I can just lower you from there to the floor."

"Good idea." Thad unlocked the knee on his brace and used the couch arm to help him lower himself to the couch. He took the brace off and Kurt lowered him to the floor. He sat down across from him and did the stretches with him just like he had done all summer.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next day, Kurt did all of their laundry and finished packing up all of their stuff. He carried all of the boxes out to the Navigator throughout the day. Thad surprised him with Chinese delivery for dinner. They were going to go out, but Thad saw how tired Kurt was already and decided that he'd rather stay in than have Kurt have to do more work.

"This is really good. Thanks for the surprise," Kurt said.

"You're welcome. You've been working really hard today. I thought staying in and relaxing would be better than going out."

"So... tonight's our last night here. Tomorrow morning it's back to Dalton. You know what the weirdest part will be?"

"What?"

"That I won't have to cook. I've gotten so used to cooking for us all summer that it will be really weird to walk into the cafeteria and just take food and sit down and eat it."

"The hardest part for me will be that I'm still in the chair. I'm not sure how I'm going to get around. I'm going to have to rethink my way through the school. I'm so used to using the stairs, that I'll have to rethink my routes to include the elevator in the classroom wing."

"I wanted to surprise you, but I'm just going to tell you now. I had our schedules adjusted so that we're in all the same classes. I'll be there with you. It will be fine."

"Are you serious? But we weren't taking all of the same classes."

"Well, I switched one of mine and one of yours as a compromise."

"You're taking AP European History and I'm taking AP Psychology."

"What did you take out of my schedule? And out of yours?"

"AP World History out of yours. AP Macroeconomics out of mine. And they aligned our classes that were the same if we were in different sections."

"Are you okay with that, really? I feel like you've already given up so much for me."

"Thad, love. Please stop thinking that way." Kurt sat his container down on the table and got up and put his arms around Thad from the back and kissed his neck. "I'm not giving up anything except studying macroeconomics, which I only chose because I needed another AP class and it seemed mildly interesting. Psychology might help me be a better actor, who knows? Either way, it's not a life-altering decision. It's just a class. If I decide I want to be an economist between now and next year, I can take all the economics classes I want to in college."

Thad put his hands over the top of Kurt's.

"Are you upset about World History?"

"No. I just thought it might be more interesting since there were more countries to study. But it's just like you said. If I want to study those other countries' histories, I can do it in college. Thank you for making it so I don't have to be worried. You are amazing at planning stuff."

Kurt slipped his hands free and sat back down to finish his food. "Our inspection is at 9:00, so I'll need to get everything that's left in here out by then. As soon as it's over, we'll head to Dalton. We'll eat breakfast on the way."

"Shower early and listen to a book or watch a movie?"

"Book. I already packed up the DVDs and the laptops."

"Book it is."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Wow. This room is really elegant."

"I think that originally these rooms were lived in by some of the teachers."

"Interesting. I bet they had nice poster beds and couches, desks and dressers with feet in here originally."

"Well, I like the hardwood floors. It makes it easy to get around in here with my crutch. No rug in the middle to trip over. And it will be easier to get in the shower since it's bigger and it has handrails to hold onto on the wall."

"Well, I'll be back. I'm going to start unloading everything."

"In a few minutes, there was a knock on the door."

"Come in?"

"Where do you want me to put this?" a burly football player whose name Thad did not know asked.

"Just stack them at the end of the bed please. Thank you."

The football player nodded.

Another knock.

"Come in?"

He was asked the same question and gave the same answer.

"Wait, please. Just leave the door open. Thank you."

"Sure thing."

Over the next 10 minutes, the football team had deposited all of his and Kurt's boxes in their room. Kurt came in a couple of minutes later.

"Well, that was a surprise," Thad said. "Why did they bring all of our stuff in?"

"They offered. Who am I to turned down people willing to carry all of our stuff in?"

Thad laughed. "Maybe you can bake them all cookies some time this week."

"Good idea."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad insisted that Kurt take him to the team's first meeting that afternoon. When Thad was introduced as the team's new stats keeper and assistant equipment manager, Kurt was totally surprised.

Kurt pushed Thad into the locker room. He put Thad's shirt in his own locker and Thad put on the polo he had been given. Kurt got all of his football gear on and they went back out onto the field. On the walked back, Kurt said, "And you said I was sneaky. I planned a single party. You've been holding out on me all summer that you were going to get to travel with the team and be on the field during the games."

"Surprise."

"I'd say so."

"I was originally supposed to be the equipment manager and fill-in waterboy. But I negotiated with Coach Moreland. So, now I'm the statistician and I'll maybe help with the equipment. I'm pretty sure knows the truth."

"Which is what?"

"That I just wanted to be with you. He knew about the wreck and that you're the one taking care of me. He got everything arranged so that I could be here for football camp, even though I can't do the job I had asked for."

"Maybe I should make him cookies too," Kurt laughed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Eighteen days of football camp was a lot of football for Kurt's tastes. He did get the three afternoons a week off to take Thad to therapy. By the end of camp, Kurt was really ready for it to end.

They had two days of relaxation before the dorms opened for the rest of the students to move in for the semester, but they didn't see anyone else moving into a room on the first floor.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Classes started and the Warblers had their first meeting during the last period of the day, as usual. Kurt had gotten Thad's chair moved to the back of the room and he was sitting in his council seat as usual. Trent and David sat at the table with him.

David called the meeting to order.

"I have disappointing news to share today. Blaine has opted to attend McKinley this year."

The whole room erupted in chatter. The new Warblers looked confused about why everyone was so upset. David banged the gavel on the desk. "Order," he demanded.

"Monday we will have auditions for anyone who is new at the school that wants to try out. After that meeting our new Warblers should meet with Kurt to be measured for your letter jackets. Monday we'll have a sign up sheet for those of you who wish to audition for the second lead position. Kurt will maintain his lead position unless someone challenges him and is chosen in his place."

David spoke. "We'll move on to introductions. Please have a seat. As we go around the room, please stand and state your name, grade and part."

Everyone went around the room and did as they were asked.

Trent stood and passed some sheet music out and then a second sheet that had each Warblers part listed. "We're going to start with a basic four part harmony song today." Kurt moved to the piano to play the starting notes for each of the parts. Thad counted them off and they began to sing. Thad listened instead of singing.

Thad spoke after they finished the song. "Not bad for a first try. Let's try it one more time before we move on to another song."

They sang through it again.

"I want to do something else before we move on to the next song. I want everyone to divide up into their parts." He pointed to different parts of the room as he spoke. "Basses. Baritones. Baritenors. Tenors. Please raise your hand if you have perfect pitch."

A few of them raised their hands.

"I want everyone to look around carefully. If you have perfect pitch, please step behind the other people singing your part."

"Let's start the song again. Kurt, please sing with the tenors." Kurt played the starting pitches and then moved to stand behind the tenors.

They sang through the song again.

"Much better. Those of you who are new will need to learn to listen carefully to stay on pitch if you don't have perfect pitch. Between those of us who do, there will usually be someone that you can focus in on. As the year goes on, you'll improve and it will come easier. Everyone please be seated again."

Thad spoke, "For the new Warblers, I'm sure that most, if not all, of you are aware of the fact that we won the national a cappella competition last spring."

They nodded.

"As the winner, we were invited to participate in the international competition, but given the fact that we lost a third of our group and several within our group have changed parts, we have barely half of the group who know the songs we sang in May. It needs to be brought to a vote on whether to participate or not. The competition is in two weeks."

Trent passed out slips of paper. "Please write 'yes' or 'no' on your slip. If we are going to participate, we have to notify the competition this afternoon."

Everyone marked their slip, folded it in half and passed it back to the table.

Thad tallied the votes. "We have 15 against and 3 in favor. The decision is that we will not participate."

David spoke. "If we should be fortunate enough to win again, we will need to discuss the potential for holding a summer camp for the Warblers to rehearse with the new members over the summer so that the group will be ready to compete two weeks after the school year starts again in the fall. We have nothing left to discuss for today. Meeting adjourned." David hit the gavel on the table.

Kurt and Thad waited for everyone to clear out. "Ready to go football practice?" Kurt pushed Thad's wheelchair over and he got in. They left out the back exit of the room and went to the athletic department and changed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Friday afternoon arrived too quickly for Kurt's liking. His nerves were definitely getting the better of him. He and Thad went to practice. The coach had sack dinners brought down to the field for the players to eat rather than changing and eating in the cafeteria and changing right back. Kurt struggled with eating his food.

It was a huge night for the team. All of the students were required to attend the first football game of the season. Kurt tried to think calm thoughts, but he wasn't really succeeding.

Closer to game time, he made sure that Thad was seated comfortably at the table where he'd been keeping track of the team's statistics during the game. He took the wheelchair back to the locker room and took his position on the bench.

The stands were full and the game was ready to begin. Kurt took his position on the 40-yard line and kicked for all he was worth. The ball was caught on the 5-yard line and the opposing team only made it 10 yards before the player who had caught the ball was tackled.

Both teams got in formation and the ball was put into play again. The Dalton defensive line kept the opposing team from making any progress. They punted on their 4th down and the ball was caught and run to the 10-yard line before the carrier was tackled. The Dalton team made the touchdown in one down. Kurt was up again and made the field goal. Dalton was up 7-0.

By the end of the game the score was 35-6. Kurt had made the field goal for each of the 5 touchdowns that had been made.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad was all smiles when Kurt came back for him with his wheelchair.

"You were amazing!"

"I'm just glad I didn't make a fool of myself. The coach took a big risk offering me the position and a scholarship with so little experience on my part."

"Well, you did great."

Most of the guys were already gone by the time Kurt and Thad left the locker room.

"Don't you want to go back out and celebrate with the team?"

"Not really. I just want to go back to our room and take another shower and lie down. We can go the next time."

"Alright."

Kurt's phone started ringing. He answered it without looking.

"Hello?"

"Hey, that was SOME game."

"Dad?"

"I'm looking for you, but I don't see you anywhere."

"Exit the stadium and go back to the visitor's parking lot. I'll meet you out there. I'm already most of the way back to my room."

"Got it."

Kurt redirected them toward the parking lot. About 10 minutes later, Burt walked up.

"You did great, kiddo."

"Thanks, Dad. I didn't know you were coming. Actually, I thought you weren't coming. Last time we spoke, you were pretty upset with me."

"Yeah, well, I'm a stubborn old ox sometimes. Carole talked some sense into me."

"I see."

"Are you boys hungry? I could take you out to eat somewhere."

"Sure, Dad."

"We'll need to take the Navigator, unless you drove Carole's car."

"Nah, I came in my truck."

"Navigator it is then."

Kurt pushed Thad out to the student parking lot and Burt walked along with them. Kurt helped Thad into the front seat and put his wheelchair in the back with practiced ease. Burt got in the back seat behind Kurt. He drove them to a Chinese place nearby. He didn't think many of the people from the game would go there since there was limited seating since a lot of the restaurant's business was carry out.

Kurt parked and reversed the process of getting the wheelchair out and helped Thad into it with the same ease he had gotten them in. He pushed Thad inside, removed a chair from a table and pushed Thad up to the table.

"We have to order at the counter. It's not a fancy place." Kurt ordered for Thad and himself. Burt ordered his own. Burt paid. While they stood back from the counter waiting, Burt started to speak.

"I was wrong, Kurt, and I'm sorry. I was angry and hurt and really, really wrong. I hope someday you can forgive me."

"Thank you. Thank you for apologizing and thanks for coming tonight to watch."

They picked up their utensils and napkins and carried the trays to the table. Thad reached for the items on Kurt's tray and sat them on the table so that Kurt could put the tray to the side. Kurt took Thad's lid and moved it onto the tray with his own.

"I forgot our water. I'll be right back." Kurt got up and grabbed two cups of water.

Thad spoke quietly. "I know he's glad that you came."

Burt nodded.

Kurt sat back down. He noticed that Burt was wearing a Dalton ball cap.

"Nice hat, Dad."

"Yeah, I think so too. Got it tonight. I hear the team's kicker's pretty awesome."

"Well, he CAN kick. So, I guess he does his job," Kurt said.

"Look, I know I screwed up. I know I can't just erase it. But I'd like to attempt to make amends. I know you can't come home for Friday dinner any time soon, but maybe you could come on a Sunday for lunch or I can come here on Sundays sometimes."

"Okay. We'll work on you coming here. There's a family weekend coming up in early October. There will be a football game Friday night and then some activities at the school all day Saturday. The clubs are setting up information tables and stuff. The Warblers will be singing. I'll text or email you the details."

"Good. Good."

"How are your classes?"

"We've only had 5 days so far. They're fine I guess. How's Carole?"

"Frustrated with me and Finn. I'm working on fixing my part. I'm not sure if Finn is fixable, until he decides to change."

"That's the way it generally works. No one can fix someone else."

"You're too young to be so wise."

"Necessity is the mother of invention. I learned young that I couldn't change other people. I could only control myself."

"Yeah."

"So, are you heading back tonight?"

"Yeah. I didn't reserve a room anywhere."

"Be careful."

"I will. The food here is good. I'll bring Carole at least once when I come. It's hard to juggle your schedule and Finn's. I wanted to be at your first game, so I came here and she went to McKinley. You both had home games. Hopefully, one of your games will be a home game when Finn has an away game and I'll bring Carole that night."

"Sounds good."

"She said she kept in contact with you over the summer."

"She did."

"Good. So, Thad, what's your position with the team? You're wearing a staff shirt."

"Statistician. I was supposed to be equipment manager, but until I can fully get out of this chair, I'm keeping track of the players statistics."

"How's the therapy going?"

Kurt collected their trash and got up and dumped it out, leaving the trays on the stand.

"Well, I can walk with the leg brace and my crutch, but only short distances. So, around our room and inside a classroom, I can get up and walk around. But to get around the building, I still need the chair for now. It's a process. The doctor said it can take up to 18 months for complete recovery and that I'm doing well. The metal rod and pins are solidly in place and my bone has healed around them. My arm is completely healed. My shoulder and ribs still give me some pain sometimes, but it's about 90% better. I've regained all of the strength in my left hand. It all just takes time. I'm still going to therapy three times a week."

"Sounds like you're doing well, then."

Kurt sat back down.

"Dad, I'm glad you came, but honestly I'm exhausted. Why don't you text me or call and we can arrange for you to come back if you want."

"That's fine. Let's head back to the school."


	7. Chapter 7

Monday afternoon's Warbler rehearsal was called to order. David hit the gavel on the table. "Order. Quiet."

Everyone quieted down.

"Today we have auditions for transfer students. We have just two people who have signed up. We also need to note that two students who had thought they would be attending Dalton, who had auditioned and were accepted, will not be joining us after all. Both of those students were tenors. And of course, after we hear the two transfer students we will be taking names for those who want to audition for the second lead since we lost Blaine."

Thad spoke. "We're going to try one of the songs we sang last spring afterwards. Last week, we worked on simple pieces for the new members to get used to harmonizing with us. Today, we want them to get a feel for what our competition pieces are like."

Trent got up and went and let the two students who wanted to audition in the room. "Which one of you is Xavier?"

"Me, but it's pronounced 'Havier.'"

"Sorry about that. Xavier, you're up first."

Xavier did a really good job.

"Sebastian, you're next," Trent said.

Sebastian killed it. He had partially choreographed his piece and he had a lot of charisma.

Trent said, "If you two could please step back out into the hallway, we'll vote and let you know in a few minutes."

Once they were out the door, Thad said, "All those in favor of adding Xavier to the group, raise your hand." He looked around and counted. "Xavier is in. All those in favor of adding Sebastian, raise your hand." He counted again. "Sebastian is also in. Trent, please let both of them back into the room."

Trent opened the door and let them in. The Warblers all clapped when the entered. The two of them took a seat.

David spoke. "Welcome to our newest Warblers, Xavier and Sebastian. Please see Kurt after the meeting to be measured for your jackets."

Kurt raised his hand quickly and put it back down.

Trent passed music out while Thad spoke. "We are going to attempt to sing 'King of Anything'. Jamison and Liam, I am sorry to say that I am going to ask the two of you to sit out, as well as Thomas. When I arranged this piece last spring, we didn't have any high tenors or a second beat box. So, the three of you can join me here at the table and the rest of you form a semi-circle facing the table." Thad went through all of the parts and assigned them.

Kurt walked over to the piano and gave the starting pitches.

Their first attempt was pretty terrible. "Well, that was ... in need of a lot of work," Thad said.

The returning members laughed.

"I'm going to play the video of us performing the song at nationals. I want the new members to hear what we CAN sound like if we work at it."

The other new members moved behind Thad so they could watch the video.

"Let's have another go at it," Thad said.

They sang through the song again. It was better than the first time, but still really rough.

"We may end up singing this song for Sectionals this fall," Thad said. "Normally songs from previous competitions aren't repeated, but since we sang this one in a different competition, it could be used again. A set list hasn't been chosen. Anyone is free to submit suggestions. We'll vote in a week or so and then we'll get the songs arranged and start working on them. Keep in mind when you make suggestions that the songs need to have enough music to them that we can become a vocal band. In the past people have suggested songs that are mostly acoustic or that have very little in the way of back up vocals or instruments. Those types of songs are difficult to arrange because there is so little to work with. One person singing with a guitar is hard to turn into a song for 18 people to sing. If we chose 'King of Anything', it will be rearranged with additional parts for our new members."

Kurt was watching the new members rather than looking at Thad. Sebastian was eying Thad the whole time. He was definitely flirting every time Thad looked his direction.

David spoke next. "We forgot to have our two newest members introduce themselves. Please stand. Tell us a little bit about yourselves."

"I'm Xavier Diaz. I'm a junior. My family just moved to Columbus. My dad is a professor and he's here for two years as a guest lecturer at OSU." He sat down.

"I'm Sebastian Smythe. I've just moved here from Paris." He sat down.

"This meeting is adjourned for official business. Please don't leave until class ends. I want everyone to talk and introduce themselves to our 7 new members. And don't forget - anyone who wants to audition for our open lead position or to challenge Kurt for his position may sign up on this sheet."

Sebastian wasted no time in walking up to the front table to offer his hand to Thad. Thad introduced himself. They spoke for a few minutes. Kurt went to the back of the room to take the new members' measurements. Kurt watched Thad and Sebastian as surreptitiously as possible while continuing to measure people. Sebastian put his name on the paper. He saw Thad point to the back table.

Sebastian walked toward Kurt. He slipped his blazer off and let Kurt measure him. He filled out the order form afterwards and gave it to Kurt.

"He's too good for you. I'll have him before Christmas."

Kurt kept his voice low, "You say that Thad is too good for me. Well, maybe that's true. Since Thad has free will, he can choose for himself. If he wants to choose me, he can. If he wants to choose you, he can. We'll see how it turns out. I wouldn't hold your breath."

Sebastian laughed.

"I can't fault you for wanting him. He's amazing. If he changes his mind, he knows where to find you. Now shoo!"

The bell rang and all of the Warblers left the room except Kurt and Thad. They left through the other doors and headed off to the athletic department. Kurt didn't say anything about Sebastian's behavior.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next day in rehearsal, they spent the whole time working on "King of Anything." Every time he had the chance, Sebastian made cutting remarks at Kurt. He managed to call him "princess" four times without anyone else hearing him. He flirted with Thad, but did a good job of preventing other people from seeing it since everyone was facing Thad the whole time, with the exception of Kurt who was singing facing the group most of the time. By the end of rehearsal, Kurt was getting pretty fed up with it.

Kurt went up to look at the sign up sheet for the audition for second lead singer when they had run through their song for the final time for the day.

"I need Sebastian, Nick, and Jeff to come up front," Kurt said.

David hit the gavel on the table. "Everyone else is dismissed." The bell rang a few minutes later and they all left.

"The three of you will need to learn these pieces." Kurt handed them copies of "Soul Sister" and "Islands in the Stream".

Sebastian laughed. "Seriously? 'Islands in the Stream'?"

"Take it or leave it, Sebastian," Kurt said. We all have schoolwork too. The piece is in the range that all three of you can sing. The lead goes back and forth between the two singers, switching who is singing the melody and harmony. It's not a declaration of your undying love to sing it with me. Thad didn't have time to arrange a non-love song into a proper duet. Keep in mind that none of us knew we'd be auditioning a new lead until a few days ago and arranging music takes time."

"Got it. 'Islands in the Stream' it is."

"Be ready to sing on Thursday," Thad added.

Kurt followed Sebastian out into the hallway. He indicated for Sebastian to follow him into another room.

Once they were inside, Kurt closed the door. He spoke quietly, calmly, and very sternly. "You can keep your effeminate names for me to yourself. You're no different than all of the other bullies I've faced. You just happen to have more money than they did. But money doesn't change the fact that you're just a scared little boy who's afraid that he can't live up to someone else's expectations. You can only bully people who allow it to happen here. I know who I am and I have nothing to hide. I'm not that guy. Keep it up and you'll find out how quickly the faculty here can send you packing back to France or maybe to a local public school if going back to Paris isn't an option." Kurt turned, opened the door and walked out of the room. He went back into the music room to get Thad and go to football practice.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Back in their room that evening after dinner, Thad and Kurt were talking.

"So, who do you think will win second lead?"

"Sebastian," Kurt said resolutely. "Jeff has the stage presence. Nick has the voice. Sebastian has both."

"He seems to be getting on your nerves though. Is that going to make it hard all year with him as lead?"

"No worse than Blaine, surely. The Warblers perform. I'm a performer. If I continue to pursue performing, I'm going to be asked to do all sorts of things outside my comfort zone, like pretend I'm in love with some woman and kiss her like I mean it on stage. Yuck. But if I want to perform, I have to move past my real feelings about a situation and be able to portray the feelings of the character I'm playing the role of. I just have to sing with him. I can do that."

"I'm sure you can. It would just be a lot more fun if we had a second lead that you enjoyed singing with."

"Then you should have put your name on the list," Kurt said and leaned over to kiss Thad.

"You know that council members can't be lead singer."

"I know." He popped up. "Let's go take a nice hot shower. We can snuggle while we read."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Wednesday evening, Kurt was up on the third floor on his way to meet Jeff and Nick to practice "Islands in the Stream" when he walked past the lounge area and saw Sebastian sitting on the couch alone, staring at a book that he obviously was not actually reading.

Kurt sat down next to him on the couch.

"Look, I know you don't like me, but I can tell that something's wrong. What's going on?"

"I don't want to be here. I want to go home. Until this year, my dad had given me the choice and every year I stayed with my _maman_. But now some political something or other is going on and I think I'm being used as a political pawn. My dad, the great father, is up for reelection soon. Maybe his opponents plan to use the fact that he shipped me off to my mother to raise as some sort of political leverage? I don't want to be a political pawn in a game I don't want to play. Your assessment of me was spot on. I'm just a scared kid who's afraid I can't live up to my father's expectations. I'm supposed to become Lead Warbler, the head of several clubs, captain of the lacrosse team and make straight A's - starting yesterday. I didn't know anything about American schools. From the guidance counselor's assessment, I'm in my third year, which was fine until I found out that there are FOUR years in high school here. I CANNOT be a third year, 'junior', whatever. This is supposed my third year, yes, but in a system where there are only three years of high school. What you consider the first year of 'high school' was my last year of what you call 'junior high'. I cannot possibly stay here for two years."

"Look, you're a really good dancer and singer. You can be second lead, if you audition and win the spot. I think our voices will sound good together. Captain of the lacrosse team - that one I'm not much help with since I don't know how the lacrosse team chooses its captain. The clubs - again, I'm not much help. But the coursework- that I can help you with. Bring a copy of your transcript from Paris to my dorm room later this evening. I will do my best to help you get that worked out. I completely, absolutely beyond a shadow of a doubt, know what it's like to be required to go to school somewhere you don't want to be. And sometimes you have to do things you don't want to get the thing you do want. I will do my best to help you graduate this year and not have to spend an extra year here."

"What is that you're doing to get what you want?"

"Playing football and working as a mechanic."

"Wow. That was not even on my radar of guesses. I was at the football game. What position do you play?"

"Everyone was at the game. I'm the kicker."

"Seriously? I know pretty much zero about American football, but you were amazingly good."

"Thanks. What you want to get away from so badly is EXACTLY what I want badly enough to do those things."

"I see."

"I sincerely doubt that, but if you want my help, bring your transcript to my room this evening. 180 at 8:00."

"Got it."

"Be prepared to rehearse 'Islands in the Stream' too. That's where I'm headed now. To practice with Jeff and then Nick."

"I'll be there at 8:00."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt answered the door when Sebastian knocked.

"Come in."

"Thanks. So, why are you two down here all by yourselves?"

Thad was sitting at his desk and the wheelchair had been collapsed and was in the bathroom out of the way.

"Because I need an accessible room." Thad said.

Sebastian looked confused.

"No one has told you have they?"

"Good for them. They learned their lesson about rumors last year it seems," Kurt said.

Thad turned in his chair and pulled his pant leg up enough that Sebastian could see the bottom of the leg brace.

"I was in a terrible car accident last spring, right before the end of school. I've been in a wheelchair for three months. I can get up and walk around with the brace on and my crutch, but only for short distances. I can't be on two crutches because my shoulder was dislocated and messed up, my left arm was broken as well as two ribs - so I can't put that much weight on my left side to be able to use two crutches and get around. I'm stuck with the chair for a while longer. I'm making progress in therapy, but the brace won't be off any time soon as far as I know. But I will eventually be able to walk around with just the brace on, using the crutch."

Sebastian didn't say anything at first. He was obviously processing what had been said and the few things that Kurt had said to him over the last few days.

"I'll go out to the lounge and study so you two can practice." Thad got up, locked his brace into position, popped his cane up and grabbed the book he'd been reading and walked slowly to the door. Sebastian opened it and let him pass through and closed it.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Nearly 6 months."

Sebastian looked at Kurt carefully. "You took care of him all summer didn't you?"

"I did. We lived in an efficiency apartment here in Westerville."

"What did you mean yesterday by what you said, that you seriously doubted that I understood anything. What don't I understand?"

"I'm playing football because I wanted to stay here at Dalton. I worked and will work again as a mechanic once football ends to make enough money to pay for my AP tests and college application fees. I already had an academic scholarship, but I needed a way to cover my room and board. I was supposed to work full time all summer, but taking care of Thad was more important. His parents paid for the apartment in lieu of paying to send him to hospice care for his rehab."

"I'll stop flirting with him."

"Thank you."

"Why do you want to be here so badly?"

"My main bully at my previous school threatened to kill me last fall. I've been here ever since the school board found it in their hearts to reinstate him three days after he had been expelled."

"That's why you came down on me yesterday."

"This place is my safe haven. My home. I won't have it ripped away from me because you get your kicks from bullying me by calling me girly names and trying to weasel your way in between me and the person I love most in the world."

"I was wrong about you. You aren't some entitled princess whose daddy has given him everything he wants. You're a badass that gets things done and takes no prisoners."

"Thank you." Kurt held his hand out. "Let me see your transcript and your current schedule. I want to see if I can help you get what you want."

Sebastian opened the folder he had laid next to him and handed a few sheets of paper to Kurt.

"Did you give it to the guidance office like this?"

"Yes? I guess? My _maman_ sent it."

Kurt switched to French. " _Well, there's part of your problem. You should have had it officially translated. My very first guess is that you didn't get credit for some things you should have or that there's been a lot of miscommunication. Does your mom speak English?_ _"_

" _Yes, but she's hard to understand sometimes. I'm pretty sure it was my dad who did the calling and the enrolling though. Wait. You speak French fluently._ "

" _I do. I'm a man of many hidden talents."_

Sebastian laughed. _"I have learned that this evening."_

" _From what it looks like to me, you were in an IB program in Paris."_

" _I was."_

" _Well, here you've been enrolled in the traditional Ohio state requirements for a regular high school diploma. You've got American Literature and US History. Those aren't part of the IB program. Let me pull up a webpage. Grab Thad's chair and sit by me."_

They looked through the Dalton page about their IB program and looked through Sebastian's classes in Paris.

" _Can you take this up to the computer lab and photocopy it so we can write on the copy? Actually, just wait down here and I'll go do it because it will be faster."_

Sebastian went out to the lounge where Thad was.

"What were you planning to do this summer?"

"We were going to stay in Seattle where my parents are based. They travel internationally most of the time though. And we were going to spend the last two weeks before football camp in Florida with them in my family's condo."

"And Kurt was going to work?"

"Yes, he had gone back to Lima to get his ASE recertifications and clean out his stuff. I had to stay behind and do the arrangement for the piece that the Warblers sang for graduation - something we were asked to do at the last minute. The plan was we would both drive to Lima, he would pack his stuff, we'd empty out what he wasn't keeping and leave his Navigator behind for the summer. We were planning to leave the day after graduation for Seattle."

"What are ASE recertifications or whatever you said?"

"For him to keep working as a mechanic. The certifications have to be renewed."

"I see. So, you went to pick him up and got in a wreck."

"True, but not quite precise. A crazed, drunk person smashed into me from behind going 80 on the highway and caused my car to hit the median and flip. I'm lucky to be alive. My airbag deploying kept me from getting any worse head trauma than the mild concussion I had."

Sebastian heard Kurt coming down the hallway.

"Shall we?" he said as he walked up.

Sebastian followed him back into the dorm room and sat back down where he had been.

They looked through the IB page and made notes on the photocopied transcript.

"If I had to wager, I bet your dad called the school, told them you were in your third year of high school, and that he wanted to enroll you. He had your mom send that transcript without the official translation, and the guidance counselor just put you in the classes that juniors have to take in Ohio. From what I can see, you can change what you're taking, get in the right IB classes and still graduate. Meet me at the guidance counselor's office before first period tomorrow."

"Thank you. Look, I'm really sorry about the way I've treated you. The enormous amount of pressure I'm under is ridiculous, but it's not your fault. You're not the cause. I need to find a positive way to face my miserable situation."

"Maybe you just need to refocus. You don't have to spend that much time with your dad, do you?"

"Not really, but I am required to go to his house some weekends."

"Are you allowed guests? Maybe make some friends here and take one or two of them with you. Most parents won't behave terribly if there are other people around to impress or to keep up their image around."

"That's true. He'd never want to tarnish his reputation amongst Dalton students who could tell their parents what a jerk he can be."

"Try joining something else. Join anything that meets on the weekends. That way you'll have an official school reason to avoid going to his house some weekends. Plus, it will look good on your college applications since lacrosse is a spring sport."

"How are you able to stay positive?"

"Well, honestly that's a good question and I don't always manage to stay positive. There have been times when I thought about giving up, permanently."

Sebastian nodded. "What made you not ... give up?"

"Stubbornness maybe? I just can't stand the idea that someone else gets to decide whether I have a right to be happy. I'm not honestly sure. I don't really think about that option anymore. I think about the future. I'm going to go to college somewhere, study music, and then do something musical with my life. I'm not sure what yet. And even if I'm not really successful in the eyes of the world, that's okay. I can pay my bills working as a mechanic and enjoy my life to the best of my ability."

"And Thad?"

"I hope he's part of all of that."

"When is the next election?"

"Not this fall. It's an odd year. Elections are held in even years, why?"

"Just thinking. If I graduate this year, I won't be here during his campaign would I?"

"I guess not since the campaigning doesn't really start in earnest until the summer before the elections. There will be primaries this spring. Whoever wins the primaries will campaign all summer to try to win the actual election next fall."

"Maybe my dad intentionally told the guidance counselor that I was a third year student so that I would be stuck here through the whole election."

"That would be very manipulative."

"That would be a perfect middle name for him."

"Oh."

"Hey, you've been a big help. Really. I'll meet you tomorrow morning like you said. Can we go ahead and practice 'Islands in the Stream'?"

"Sure."

"Again, I'm sorry for hassling you. I didn't know a lot of things, but even without that knowledge, I should be a better person. I'm not my dad, but if I don't get my head on straight, I could be and I don't want that."

"I forgive you. Just please don't hassle people here. I can assure you that you don't want to go to public school. You'll have to stay for both years since no public schools around here offer IB diplomas. Even if you end up hating it here, I can guarantee that a year here will be a thousand times better than two years in a local public school. Try to keep your chin up, as they say."

Sebastian laughed. "Sing with me, dear Kurt of the uplifting words."

"I think we could actually be friends, if you'll give it a chance."

"Thanks."

Kurt put his phone in the speaker dock and turned the music on.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning Kurt, Thad and Sebastian met up outside the guidance counselor's office as planned. Thad waited outside in the hall.

"Kurt and ..."

"Sebastian," Sebastian offered.

"Yes, of course, Sebastian. What can I do for the two of you?"

Kurt answered. "Well, it seems that Sebastian has been given the wrong classes and the wrong class standing."

"What makes you think that, Kurt?"

"Well, he was in an IB program in Paris. This should be his last year in the IB program. He should be a senior. And he's not enrolled in the IB courses here."

"Well, let me check Sebastian's records." She pulled them up and read through the notes. "I have a call from his father enrolling him as a third year student back in August. I have a transcript from a school in Paris, and I did my best with it, but he's missing a lot of required courses, but that's based on him getting a high school diploma from the state of Ohio. I need one of you to translate these courses for me."

Kurt took the sheet from Sebastian and wrote the English name for each course next to the French name and handed it to her.

"Not that I don't trust Kurt to be accurate, but I will need you to provide me with an officially translated transcript, Sebastian."

"I'll get my _maman_ to have that done ASAP and faxed here. Please write the number to fax it to on the top of my photocopy." She did.

"I'll need you to go to your room and bring back all of the textbooks so that I can issue you a refund and provide you with the correct books for your new classes. If you can run and do that now while I build you a new schedule, that will help."

"Sure, Miss Webber. I'll be right back."

Sebastian left.

"Kurt, please stay in case I have questions while I do this."

"There won't be any need to contact his father about this will there?"

"No. Schedule changes do not have to be signed for when a student is already 18. Sebastian is free to choose his own classes. Why do you ask?"

"I'm not a liberty to say."

"Alright. Let me get to work on this."

Sebastian returned 20 minutes later with the textbooks.

"Just put them on the extra chair over there." She pointed.

He sat back down.

"I assume you want to remain in the Warblers."

"Definitely."

"I will notify your teachers of the mix up and you will be excused from any assignments that have been due this past week, but unfortunately you will be required to learn any material that has been presented so far." She handed him a print out of his new schedule.

Kurt interjected, "At least it's only a week and a half. Last year I had nearly three months of work I was responsible for learning with only a month left in the semester."

"Did you sleep?" Sebastian asked.

"Not nearly enough," he laughed.

"Here's a pass for the two of you for first period."

"I'll need one for Thad too. He's waiting for me out in the hall." She reached for Kurt's pass and added Thad's name to it."

"Sebastian, come back at lunch and I'll have your new textbooks ready for you to pick up."

"Thank you. So, with this new schedule, I'll be able to graduate in May?"

"Yes, provided that you complete the coursework. The IB courses are rigorous and require a lot of effort on the part of the student. You will be in most of the classes with the same 20 students or so. Most of them have lived in Europe or will be returning to or going to Europe at the end of this school year to continue their education there. We are one of the few schools in Ohio that offer the program. For French, you will report to he AP French teacher to pick up your assignments each day and then move to the classroom next door to do the work. The course title will be changed by mid-term to reflect that it is a third-level IB research course. The school just has to find out the proper name to give it. Kurt took AP French last year, so the two of you will be in that course together."

"And you won't need to notify my father that my courses have changed?"

"No. He will see your course names when he gets your grade reports unless you sign a form that you don't want grade reports sent to him."

"I can do that?"

"According to my records, you turned 18 last week, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then, I'll have the form for you to sign when you come to get your books."

"Thank you."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Sebastian left the office. Once they were in the hallway, Sebastian practically flung himself at Kurt and gave him a huge hug. Kurt was startled, but went with it.

"Oh, my God! I owe you everything. Anything you want that I can give you is yours."

"I'll think about it Sebastian. How about for now, you just let me go?"

Sebastian laughed. "Sure, sure. Sorry. I'm just so excited. Oh, my God. I can go home in May. Don't tell anyone else. I don't want this to get back to my dad."

Thad and Kurt both agreed. Sebastian showed Thad his new schedule while they walked toward the classroom wing.

"Your first class is down the first hall at the end."

"Thanks."

Kurt said, "I'll see you in French third period."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian came scurrying in and grabbed food and found Kurt and Thad and plopped down at the table.

"Will you get into some sort of trouble for eating with me? Will I be accused of trying to persuade you to pick me for second lead?"

"Unlikely. Jeff and Nick and the two of us are already friends. We have been since last year. The lead vote is done by secret ballot. No one will know who voted for which person."

"Anyway, after Kurt threatened to turn in a bunch of nosy, rumor-spreading Warblers last year for slander as a form of bullying, everyone has straightened up and minds their own business a lot more."

"Badass. I was really, really wrong." Sebastian laughed and shook his head.

Kurt laughed. "I told you this place is my home and I'm not losing it without a fight."

"So, I have a huge favor to ask the two of you. I already owe Kurt my scholastic career. I'm going to end up his servant soon," he laughed.

"I'm not into being anyone's master, so you're safe. What did you want to ask us?"

"Remember when I said my dad would require me to come to his house some weekends?"

"Yes."

"Well, this is one of those weekends."

"We obviously can't leave until after the football game on Friday."

"I know. It's not until Saturday afternoon anyway."

"Is your dad going to be okay with us?" Kurt asked.

"I don't understand the question."

"Thad's in a wheelchair. We're a gay couple."

"Well, the wheelchair won't be an issue. No politician in his right mind would be rude to a high school student in a wheel chair. As for the gay part, he won't like that part. I'm to play the dutiful, not-openly-gay son."

"I see."

"I understand if you won't come." Sebastian sounded resigned to facing his dad alone.

"Look, Sebastian. I'll go, but I won't lie. I won't pretend to be straight by lying, but I won't say anything to out the three of us. That's not me," Kurt said.

Thad said, "I'll go. I have the same rules as Kurt. I won't out us, but I won't lie if I'm asked."

"Fair enough. Thank you. It will probably be awful. I'm sorry in advance."

"Will there at least be good food?" Kurt asked teasingly.

"Oh, I'm sure there will be. It's a catered event."

"We'll go with you, but can we take my Navigator? It's easier to get the wheelchair in it than it is a car."

"Sure."

The warning bell rang.

"I'll see you this afternoon. Be ready to wow everyone with our amazing rendition of 'Islands in the Stream'.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt sang with Nick, Jeff and Sebastian. Then each of them took the lead for "Soul Sister," singing with the returning members. After all three had performed, Trent passed out ballots that had the three candidates names printed on them.

"Please circle your choice for our second lead position and pass your ballots to the front."

Thad tabulated the results. "Sebastian will be our second lead this year." Everyone clapped. "Congratulations, Sebastian."

He nodded.

"I'd like everyone to move into a semi-circle. We're going to go over 'King of Anything' a couple of times. Tomorrow during rehearsal we will break into groups and go over individual parts. We have the added parts for our new members. Sebastian, no one has been singing the harmony with Kurt because we were missing a second lead. You'll need to relearn your part for this song."

"I will do that," Sebastian said. "By tomorrow," he added.

Trent distributed the sheet music for newly arranged version of the song.

Kurt gave the starting pitches and they began rehearsing. When they finished, David dismissed them. Sebastian hung around this time. He saw where Kurt had been keeping Thad's wheelchair. Kurt brought it in and Thad got in and Sebastian followed them out the other doors.

"Where are you two going?"

"Football practice. You can watch if you want. It's fairly boring though."

"I'll read if I get bored. There's always lots and lots of reading to do."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The three of them sat together at dinner.

"Do you think the school would let a few of us move down to the first floor so you guys wouldn't have to be alone down there?"

"I have no idea. There are only 6 rooms on the first floor. Four are doubles, the other two are singles," Thad answered. "I had honestly hoped I would not need the chair anymore by now and that we could move back up to the third floor where we were last year."

"Well, I'm going to go ask tomorrow," Sebastian said. "I'm in a single already. So, if there's no difference in price, I'm going to see if they'll let me move. Maybe Nick and Jeff would want to. You said you're friends with them."

"We are. We're friends with quite a few of the Warblers. Several of them came to visit us over the summer when they were nearby."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt met up with the new Warblers in the first floor lounge after dinner to give them their jackets. Sebastian stuck around after the others left. He had brought his books with him and set himself up in the lounge and started to read all of the material that he had missed the first week and a half of classes.

Thad and Kurt came out of their room in their pajamas a while later. Kurt was carrying Thad's guitar.

"I didn't know you played guitar."

Kurt jumped. "I didn't know you had stayed down here. I don't play. It's Thad's. He plays out here because it's easier than playing sitting on the bed or his desk chair since the love seat sits lower to the ground. Is the music going to bother you?"

"No, not at all."

Thad got himself comfortable on the love seat and Kurt handed him the guitar and curled up in the corner of the couch that Sebastian was sitting on. Thad began to play. He played through several songs.

"Will you play the one from Florida?" Kurt asked.

Thad smiled and started to play again. Kurt closed his eyes and smiled. Sebastian noticed that the one Kurt requested was much more happy sounding. When Thad finished, Kurt opened his eyes.

"Did you write all of those songs?" Sebastian asked.

"Yeah."

"They're really good. Is that what you plan to study? Music composition?"

"I'd like to. I think it would be really cool to be the composer for music for movies - to be the one that sets the mood and create feeling for the visuals. I don't write lyrics, so I've never really considered trying to break into the music industry."

"You do all the arrangements for the Warblers, right?"

"Yeah. It's tough sometimes. But it's really cool to hear the final outcome when everyone gets their parts right. Other than seeing 'King of Anything' have you seen the other performances from last year?"

"No. I told Kurt, but I didn't tell you. I really didn't know anything about coming to school here. I was informed in August. I'm here while all of the friends I've had since I was old enough to make friends are in Paris where I thought I would be finishing my last year of school with them. I didn't know anything about the Warblers until I came here. My dad insisted that I join. It seems like it might be the only enjoyable thing I do until lacrosse starts in the spring."

"Do you have your laptop with you?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah," he said as he leaned over to pull it out of his bag. He sat it on the coffee table, opened it and put in his password. He slid it toward Kurt, who sat up and went to a private YouTube channel and pushed it back toward Sebastian.

"So you didn't watch our performance of 'Soul Sister' to prepare for your audition?" Thad asked.

"No. You gave me sheet music. I used that."

"Do you have earbuds with you?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah, I'll grab those and watch. How many videos are there?"

"Three. Each one is less than 10 minutes long. If you don't want to watch them all now, I can give you the password and you can watch them later."

"Were you going to play more?" Sebastian asked Thad.

"No, I've got some reading to do."

Kurt put Thad's guitar in their room and came back a few minutes later with two books. By the time Kurt came back, Thad had maneuvered himself into sitting with his back against the arm of the love seat with his legs extended on the cushions. This time Kurt sat down on the love seat with Thad. He sat like a reflection of the way Thad was sitting. It was one of those moments that felt so private and intimate that Sebastian looked like he felt out of place being there, but neither of them gave any indication that he was unwelcome or unwanted. He saw how incredibly close the two of them were without being the least bit sexual. No one who was paying attention could miss the fact that the two of them were incredibly in sync and head over heels for each other. They were the real deal. Sebastian had never witnessed that type of connection between two people.

He picked his laptop up off the table and put it in his lap, plugged his earbuds in and started watching the videos. When he finished, he put the laptop and earbuds on the coffee table.

"So, what did you think?" Kurt asked.

"So, that's Blaine. Gelled hair?"

"Yep, the one and only."

"And he jumped ship to where?"

"To my old school, McKinley."

"Why?"

"He followed his heart."

"I'm confused."

"Blaine's girlfriend goes to McKinley."

"Oh," Sebastian said, looking confused.

"Here, let me show you." Kurt got up and sat next to Sebastian and pulled up the New Directions YouTube page. He played their Nationals performance from the previous year.

"So, the short, dark-haired girl is Rachel and she's Blaine's girlfriend?"

Kurt nodded.

"The one that the super tall guy was kissing on stage?"

"That's her. She's the female lead, despite the fact that the two blonds were lead at Sectionals. The tall guy is Finn. He's my stepbrother. If it weren't for him, there probably wouldn't be a Glee club at McKinley. He joined when there were just four of us. He was top dog on the McKinley food chain and he got half the group to join because he said it was cool. But they all took hits to their popularity, but somehow managed to stay off the bottom of the food chain where the original four of us stayed. Me, Tina, Artie, and Mercedes," he pointed to the screen as he said their names. "Sam joined last fall. He's a friend and a really nice guy."

"So, Blaine went there instead of staying here?"

"He's likely their male lead singer now. He's got more showmanship than Finn and since Rachel gets her way, I'm sure that Blaine is her partner now."

"I see."

"If you don't try to make sense out of it, your brain will hurt less."

Sebastian laughed. "I suppose it would. I just can't imagine giving up a top-notch school to go to the school you've described."

"Well, it's highly unlikely that he will be on the receiving end of any intense bullying. Last year, Santana, the one who sang "Valerie", started a club called the Bully Whips to bully the bullies into not bullying other students. So, since both of them are in Glee club, it's unlikely that Blaine is being bullied by anyone. No one with any sense would want to piss Santana off."

"Well for all the resemblance to a soap opera, they really can sing. I'm not going to try to figure out the dynamics. Like you said, that seems like a good way to get a headache. Are we facing them at Sectionals?"

"We won't know until closer to the competition date, maybe 2-3 weeks before. If we don't face them at Sectionals and we win ours, we're sure to face them at Regionals."

Kurt's phone rang. He got up to go answer it. He looked at the caller ID, walked into their room, and shut the door behind him.

"I'll tell you what happened because everyone else from last year knows. But don't talk to anyone about this," Thad said.

"Alright."

Thad told Sebastian the condensed, no-insider-information version of what happened between Blaine and Kurt the year before.

"So, Blaine is bi and is dating Kurt's stepbrother's ex-girlfriend and has replaced him as lead of their club?"

"You got it."

"And Finn blames Kurt."

"Exactly. Finn is very immature. I'll just leave it at that. Oh, and he is one of Kurt's former bullies, who is friends with Kurt's other former bullies, some reformed, some not."

Kurt came out of their room and sat back down on the love seat with Thad. Only this time, he stood waited for Thad to make room for him to sit between his legs and he lay down on Thad's chest. Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt, who just lay there for a few minutes and then sat up and moved back to the other end of the love seat like he was before.

"I've been summoned. Dinner at the house, next Sunday afternoon."

"Am I allowed to come?"

"Undetermined."

"While you were gone, I explained the saga of Blaine and Finn to Sebastian."

"Oh, okay."

"The basics. The whole story would take a lot longer to tell than you were gone."

"Right. I've got a really long day ahead of me tomorrow. I'm going to see I can get to sleep early. You're welcome to stay in the lounge studying, but don't be late for curfew or you'll get written up."

"I'll just head back up now. I'm pretty tired and I don't want to risk falling asleep on this couch."

"See you tomorrow, then." Kurt got up and went to their room.

Sebastian started packing his stuff back up. "Thanks for not making me feel like a third wheel." he said to Thad. "I know I'm not the easiest to get along with. I'm trying to do what Kurt said and focus on the fact that this isn't a life sentence and that I can leave at the end of May thanks to his intervention. So, a little over 8 months and I'm free to go home. But I really do appreciate the two of you being kind to me. I don't deserve it after how I treated Kurt, but anyway, I appreciate it." He picked up his bag and walked toward the stairs.

Thad locked his brace in place, grabbed his crutch, and walked back to their room.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Later, they were lying in their bed in the dark talking. "Come on. Come closer. You're not going to hurt me. If it starts to hurt at all, I'll tell you."

Kurt scooted closer to Thad and laid his head on his shoulder. Thad ran his hand through Kurt's hair.

"You're not angry with me are you?"

"No. I'm a little sad that you didn't tell me, but I understand dealing with it and not wanting anyone else to know after all the times people have hurt you."

"You already have so much to deal with, I didn't want you to worry about me."

"I know, but I'm asking you not to do it again. I know you didn't mean to hurt me because I know you were protecting me, but in the end it hurts me to know that I wasn't there for you because you kept something from me."

"I'm sorry. He got the message loud and clear and changed his behavior. It was over in like a day. He's just angry and lonely. He needs a friend."

"And you are as amazing as always. But don't hide things from me, please. We can try to be friends with him. Friendly may be all we achieve since he really doesn't want to be here, but if he relaxes and stops hating it here so much, we might achieve being friends with him. You know that I am not the least bit concerned about you spending time with him, right?"

"I appreciate that. I'm glad you know that I'm yours. One day you'll be my first and if I get my way, my only." He tipped his head up and kissed Thad. He scooted up so they could kiss more comfortably. After several minutes of intense kissing, they slipped back into gentle kisses. "I love you."

"You show me every day. I have no doubt that you do. I love you too."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The rest of the week was a blur of classes, practices and schoolwork. Friday went much the way the previous Friday had gone. Classes all day. Warblers rehearsal. Football practice. Eating sack dinners. Kurt not being able to eat much of his. And a home game.

The team they faced was better than the team they had played the week before, but they still came out ahead 28-12. They had a much better running back and better defensive line allowing them to get the ball farther down the field on their returns of Kurt's kicks and they kept the Dalton offensive line from making as much forward progress with each down.

Kurt had his Dalton football sweats and hoodie on after showering when his phone rang like it had the week before after the game.

"Hi Carole. Oh. I didn't know you were coming. We'll be out in a minute and we'll meet you in the visitor's lot. Oh, okay. Give me a few more minutes then." Kurt put his shoes on and tossed his uniform into the laundry cart and locked his pads and equipment in his locker.

"She wants me to go with her alone. I'm sorry. I don't want to leave you behind. I'll bring you food back."

"It's okay. It's probably family or financial stuff she doesn't want to talk about in front of me. She's never excluded me before. There must be a reason. I'll work on transcribing that new song I'm working on."

Kurt got Thad in their room, kissed him, and headed back out to the parking lot.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I would have brought something else to change into in the locker room if I had known you were coming, but I didn't want to make you wait longer by changing again," Kurt said as Carole hugged him.

"Oh, honey, you look fine. Are you hungry? Burt told me about the Chinese place with the good food."

"Yes, I'm hungry and it is good. Did you drive all the way over here by yourself? I thought maybe Dad was in the restroom or something."

"No, I came by myself. We swapped. He went to Finn's game."

Kurt followed her to her car. He drove since he knew where they were going. They continued talking as he drove.

"You know I don't know a lot about football, but your kicks were really good. You made all your field goals. Burt said you did last week too."

"That's true," Kurt confirmed.

"Have you talked to Finn lately?"

"No. I blocked him again at the beginning of the summer when he kept continually sending me complaint texts."

"Well, he's changed his attitude since then. I forced him to go to counseling over the summer."

"I hope it helped."

"It did. He finally admits to the fact that it was fair and right for him to work two jobs all summer and make absolutely no money doing it."

"Well, that's shocking."

Kurt pulled into the restaurant parking lot. They went inside and got in line. They stood quietly while they waited in line and then waited for their food. Kurt put the tray down and got water before he sat down.

"Finn was operating under this childish belief that the only time something was wrong was if you got caught."

"I can tell you where that probably came from."

"I already know - Puck."

"I can understand some of his perspective on that. His dad never got in trouble for abandoning them. He didn't get in trouble with his mom unless he got caught and the school or the police called her. So, I can see how in a little kid's mind, things could get warped and twisted into believing that it was getting caught that was the wrong part, rather than the act itself. Plus, all those cougars knew that what they were doing was wrong, but as long as their husbands didn't find out, everything was just fine. He's grown up learning to not get caught."

"Well, you are generous in your assessment of others, as usual. But both of them were long past the point of being so naïve as to believe that it's only wrong if you get caught. So, therapy this summer helped Finn grow up and realize that the things he had done were wrong whether he got caught or not. Burt told me about Vocal Adrenaline's slashed Range Rover tires. I found Ms. Corcoran in New York and asked her to send a copy of the bill to our house demanding repayment. I didn't want you put in the middle of something else that wasn't your fault."

"Thank you."

"So, Burt made Finn work 9-hour shifts, 5 days a week and get a second job working two 8-hour shifts on the weekends at the auto parts store. So, he's paid off his half of the tire bill as of the beginning of school. He's only working 10 hours a week at the shop and at the auto parts store now that school started. He will have the money he owes Burt saved up in about 5 weeks. After that, he can choose to keep working and keep the money or he can work fewer hours and have less income. We're still paying his car insurance and phone, but no more spending money once he's finished repaying Burt."

"Seems reasonable," Kurt said.

"Burt is going to deposit the $1000 into your account. He put the $300 Finn already gave him in your account this afternoon. He figures that since he already paid the roof off and that no one ever reimbursed you for all of the damages to everything that was ruined that he'd give you the money. This information will not be shared with Finn. Although I feel that he owes you money in addition to what he owed Burt, I don't want to make things worse between the two of you."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"That means I'll be able to pay for my AP exams. Thank you. I'm still going to get a job when football season ends. But I'll need to stockpile that money for car insurance and my phone next year."

"Well, my feeling is that your dad has been unfair to you since we got married. I continued to give Finn an allowance and Burt is opposed to allowances. We are moving toward things being equal, but in my mind, you should have been getting an allowance all last year."

"Well, I sort of did when you made Dad cover my car insurance and phone. I had paid for that myself since I was 16. And you're still covering that this year, which made it possible for me to take care of Thad all summer. But I'll be getting a job, like I said. Once school ends, I'll start paying for them again myself."

"You know that was the crux of why Burt got so upset with you."

"What do you mean?"

"He was mad that Finn was being completely and totally irresponsible and that you were the exact opposite being for too responsible in his opinion. He felt that it was Thad's parents' responsibility to care for Thad. That you shouldn't have been put in the position as the caregiver for someone at such a young age."

"I love Thad. I couldn't let him spend the summer in a hospice facility somewhere when I could care for him myself. And his parents did see to it that he was cared for - by letting me to do it. They paid for the apartment. They paid to feed us all summer. They paid for my gas."

"I know, honey. But somehow he had it in his mind that your last summer as a kid should have been fun and carefree like his was. He knows that next summer you'll be heading off to who knows where to live on your own. He wanted you in Lima. He thought he could convince you to stay in Lima somehow. He's used to getting his way."

"I know he is. But I was going to Seattle, then Florida. It could have been a really exciting summer of visiting places along the West Coast and then Florida, but Thad's alive and that's what matters. I can sightsee some other time or never. But having Thad is a lot more important than that."

"Honey, you really love him, don't you?"

"I thought taking care of him all summer made that really obvious."

"Sometimes guilt makes people do things."

"Oh. No, no guilt. I didn't run him off the road while drunk. Does Dad think I somehow blame myself for what happened since he got hurt on the way to Lima?"

"I think so."

"That's probably just leftover guilt about what happened to my mother. He knew she didn't like to drive at night, but he had to go on a wrecker run and she drove that night. We've never talked about it because I was really young - too young to talk to about stuff like this. I bet he somehow feels like it was his fault that we got hit that night, but it wasn't his fault at all. Drunk people who drive are the ones at fault when people get hurt."

"You're right, of course."

"I actually enjoyed my summer with Thad. I mean other than the fact that he was in pain and it broke my heart to see him hurting. I like being with him. He's really amazing. We're planning on applying to the same colleges. I'm not with him because I feel guilty about what happened to him or because I feel sorry for him."

"I believe you, honey."

"Why did Dad summon me to Lima next Sunday? He knows I don't want to be there. Can't we meet somewhere else?"

"I tried. He says it's a family meeting and it should take place in our home."

"So, I assume that means Thad isn't invited."

"Well, not as of right now. But I'm working on it."

"You know I appreciate all of the effort you're putting into everything, but I also know how to cut my losses like the Gambler. You love Dad and I think that's great. I never wanted him to be alone when I left. But I've always known I was leaving. Finn can find happiness in Lima. It's just not the place for me. Even Westerville is like night and day to Lima. I'm not saying that people here are ready to 'embrace the gay' or whatever, but they don't yell at me and Thad from across the street or say rude things to us at the therapy clinic. There's just too much negative history in Lima for me."

"Finn says that Blaine isn't being harassed at all."

"I figured he wouldn't be. No one knows him. He's Rachel's boyfriend. He likes sports."

"Finn's reports about the school make Burt feel like you were exaggerating."

"I'm sure they do. Finn always acted like the bullying wasn't as big of a deal as it was. He's never felt threatened. I've been threatened since I was in elementary school. I know you didn't know me before a year ago, but I grew like 4 inches between 10th and 11th grade. I was still like 5'6" when I was in 10th grade. Finn was like 6'3" - 9 inches taller than I was. Puck was like 6 inches taller. I have been smaller than the two of them and the other bullies my whole life. I've been a target for them since I was 8."

"Hiding everything from your dad has worked against you. If he had known all along, this wouldn't be such a problem now."

"There's no way to know how the past could have been changed by him knowing. All I know for sure is that him knowing would not have stopped the kids from harassing me. It goes back to getting caught like we were talking about. The kids would have just made sure that there were no witnesses. No proof equals no trouble."

"Anyway, Burt wants you at home next Sunday at 1:00, alone at this point."

"Fine. I will come to lunch alone. But if this turns out to be an attack on some aspect of my life, don't expect me to come back a second time. It's getting late. Are you driving back tonight?"

"No. I'm going to an old friend's place not too far from here and we're going shopping in Columbus tomorrow."

"Good. I'm going to go order something for Thad to take back with me. I'll be right back." Kurt returned to his seat to wait.

"Thank you for coming to see me play. And for listening to my side of things."

Thad's order was done really quickly. Kurt tossed out the trash and put the trays away before he grabbed Thad's food. He drove them back to the school. Carole got out and hugged him, and then got in the driver's seat.

"I'll see you a week from Sunday," she said.

He waved as she drove off.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt opened the door to their room and Thad was sitting at his desk transcribing just like said he would.

"I brought you spring rolls. I didn't know how hungry you were. But I know you love them."

"Thank you." Thad stood and locked his brace and took the two steps to get to where Kurt was standing. He wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and kissed him. "Mmm. I'll eat these and then we can shower and get in bed."

"Good plan."

Thad sat back down and cleared his desk top off. Kurt handed him the bag. Thad ate while Kurt got their pajamas out and took them to the bathroom. He undressed down to his underwear and waited for Thad to finish. Kurt helped Thad get his pants off. He walked into the bathroom using the crutch. He sat on the bath stool and took the brace off and handed it to Kurt. The whole process was quick and well-practiced. In no time, they were back out and going back through the steps to get Thad back in their room and into the bed. During the whole process, Kurt told Thad about his dinner with Carole.

Kurt made sure their door was locked, turned the lights off and got in bed.

"You're not going to Lima alone next weekend. I'll come with you and I'll enlist Sebastian to come too. We might not be able to attend this lunch meeting, but we can be there waiting to pick you up. I don't want you to have to feel alone."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning after breakfast, Kurt and Thad heard commotion in the hall and Kurt opened the door to see what was going on.

Sebastian, Jeff, Nick, Trent, and Richard were all in the hallway carrying boxes.

"Hey neighbor," Jeff said.

"What's going on?"

Trent answered, "Ah, well Sebastian got the headmaster to let the 6 of us move down here with you. Jeff and Nick are two doors down. Richard and I are next to you. Sebastian's across the hall from me and Richard. David is next to Sebastian, across from Nick and Jeff,"

"If at any point these rooms are needed, we'll have to move out. Or if you can climb the stairs again, we can all move back up to the third floor," Nick stated.

"And by virtue of the fact that all three council members live on this floor, I declare that we have the Warblers parties down here," David said.

"You can't just declare things," Trent said. "We all three have to vote. I vote yes, so NOW it's decided that the Warblers parties will be down here."

Kurt was laughing at Trent. "Sure, sure Trent. Whatever you say. It will be nice to have people around. Who's the RA?"

"Me," Richard said.

"Got it. You need to tell Edward, so he'll stop coming down to check on us from the second floor," Thad said.

"I'll do that," Richard said.

"Hey Sebastian!" Kurt yelled.

"Yeah?"

"Can you come down here?"

Sebastian came in. "I need to know what Thad and I should wear to your dad's event this afternoon. Please look through our closets and pick appropriate outfits. I've been known to be too flamboyant, even when dressed modestly by my own standards. I can wear Thad's clothes if you don't find anything of mine to be suitable."

"I guess I've never seen you in your regular clothes, now that I think about it. Let me look." Sebastian looked through their closets and pulled out slacks, two of Thad's long button-up shirts, vests and ties.

"Thanks. What time should we be ready?"

"We'll eat lunch and then leave at 1:00? It starts at 2:00, but we have to drive there."

"Sure. Stop by at 11:45 and we'll go eat lunch."

Thad and Kurt worked on their homework while everyone was moving boxes. A little while later, Sebastian knocked. Thad was already in his chair ready to go. The others went with them too.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Stop at a gas station before we drive out of town and I'll put gas in for you. I don't want you to have to pay for attending my dad's dumb party."

"Okay, but you don't have to."

"I know. I want to."

Kurt pulled into a gas station. Sebastian got out and put the gas in. "Do you two want anything like a drink?"

"I'm fine," Kurt said.

"No thanks," Thad said.

Sebastian came back out with a coffee. "Coffee makes me calm," he said as he got in the backseat."

"There's a drink holder in the middle on the floor."

"Thanks."

They talked on the way to the Smythe Estate, which was on outskirts of the northwest side of Columbus. They turned in to the driveway and pulled down to the sidewalk and were met by a valet driver.

"Seriously?" Kurt asked incredulously.

"Just go with it," Sebastian said. He hopped out and pulled Thad's wheelchair out and pulled it up alongside the Navigator. Kurt helped Thad out and he situated himself in the chair. Kurt pushed him up the sidewalk to the house following along behind Sebastian.

Sebastian opened the door to find his father standing on the other side. Mr. Smythe was the same height as Sebastian, but with slightly broader shoulders. He had probably been as slim as Sebastian when he was younger, but was now a little heavier, but still had an athletic build. His hair was slightly darker than Sebastian's with some white starting to be speckled throughout.

"Sebastian, thank you for coming. I see you've brought the friends from school you mentioned."

"Yes. This is Kurt - he's the other lead Warbler and the amazing kicker for the Dalton football team. And this is Thad - he's on the Warbler Council."

"It's nice to meet the two of you. I've heard that the football team is doing well this year."

"Yes, sir. We've won both of our games so far," Kurt responded.

"Well, please come on in, and Sebastian can show you where to go."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Well, that was the longest, most boring four hours I've lived through, ever," Sebastian said. "You two are saints for not stabbing me with the cutlery for dragging you here."

"We're fine. You're fine. You obviously do not have a version of my 'Aunt Mildred' in your family tree. I've sat through longer, more boring family get-togethers."

"No, I guess not. I have several aunts and uncles and cousins in France, all on my mother's side, but spending time with them is actually fun."

Thad said, "Let's just head back to Dalton. At least the hors d'oeuvres were good," he laughed.

"I have to get my stuff straightened up still when we get back," Sebastian said.

"Thanks for moving down with us."

"You're welcome. It just didn't seem right for the two of you to be down there by yourselves all the time."

"We'd gotten used to it. We've been there for five weeks," Thad said.

"Five?"

"Yeah, we were here for football camp before school started," Kurt answered.

"Oh, wow. I thought it had just been a week and a half or two."

"No. Really it's been 15 weeks, just the last 5 have been at the school. Remember, we lived on our own all summer, just the two of us."

"You're not mad that I did it are you? I should have asked if you liked the privacy."

"I'm not mad," Thad said.

"Me neither."

"Oh, good."

"How do you not have a French accent? Inquiring minds want to know," Thad asked.

"I went to a bilingual school. I also lived here until I was 4. So, I learned American English at the same time I learned French."

"Okay."

"My inquiring mind wants to know why Kurt doesn't have an American accent when he speaks French and how his French is so good given what he's said about the schools in Lima."

Kurt answered, "Pretty much the same reason you have an American accent - one parent who speaks English and one who spoke French. Did you finish your paper yet?"

"Almost. Will you swap with me tonight? I'll read yours and you read mine?"

"Sure. Bring yours over when you're finished."

"How about I order us a pizza since we're going to get back too late to eat dinner?"

"Sure," Thad said.

They talked about the IB classes Sebastian was taking and the difference between AP and IB classes on the rest of the drive back.


	8. Chapter 8

Monday night after football practice, Kurt and Thad got dressed up and went out to celebrate that they had been together for 6 months. Thad picked an Italian restaurant that one of the Warblers had recommended. Kurt drove and parked in the handicapped spot, but when he got out, Thad said not to get his wheelchair out. He was determined to walk hand in hand with Kurt into the restaurant. Kurt helped him out. Using his crutch and holding Kurt's hand, Thad made it into the restaurant.

"That's the farthest you've walked. That's amazing," Kurt said with a huge smile on his face.

"I've been working hard in therapy. I really want to be able to get around without the chair."

They enjoyed their dinner together and no one in the restaurant did or said anything untoward the whole time, which was really nice.

They left hand in hand again and slowly walked back to the Navigator. As Kurt stepped closer to Thad to help him up into the front seat, Thad kissed him. "I love you."

Kurt kissed back. "Thank you for a lovely dinner." Kurt kissed him again. "I love you." He went back around to the driver's side and got in. Kurt drove them back to Dalton.

Kurt wheeled Thad to their room. He pulled the wheelchair to the side of the hall right before their door. "Stand up and come in with me. I'll get your chair in few minutes."

Kurt unlocked the door and let Thad walk in first. Kurt shut the door behind them. There was a single red rose laying on Thad's desk with a two person cake. Kurt put his phone in the dock and pressed play. He turned the lamp on and the room light off. There was a scarf over the lamp, creating a soft blue light in the room. Kurt walked to where Thad was standing. He took his crutch and put it against Thad's desk.

"Just wrap your arms around my neck." Kurt put his arms around Thad's torso and they barely swayed together, but it was as close to dancing as they had gotten in three months. "I'm so glad you took a chance on me and asked me out." Kurt kissed Thad's neck. "I love you so much. I'm glad you're doing better and you're not in so much pain anymore." He continued to kiss Thad's neck in between speaking. "You've been amazingly brave and worked so hard."

Thad leaned back just slightly and turned his head and kissed Kurt. "I love you. Let's go shower. I want to eat the cake you made me and then lie down and snuggle you."

Kurt helped him over to his chair so he could undress. Kurt grabbed the wheelchair from the hall. He helped Thad with his pants because they were fitted and hard to get off without help, and then undressed as well. Thad grabbed his crutch and went in the bathroom and sat on the stool to take off the brace. He handed it to Kurt when he came in.

Kurt turned the water on with the hose down letting it warm up before he started to spray Thad. He noticed that Thad had moved the stool before sitting on it.

"I've waited long enough," Thad said. "I can't stand and do what I wanted, but I moved the stool so I can at least try to do it sitting down. Can you kneel in front of me or sit on the floor? I really want to wash your hair and bathe you like you've done for me all these months."

"Sure." Kurt handed him the spray hose, the bottle of shampoo and the wash cloth and sat down on the floor in front of him.

"I know that the arrangement was all very clinical and we've had a hands off approach with well..."

Thad ran his hands through Kurt's hair massaging his scalp. Kurt melted into Thad's touch. Thad rinsed the shampoo out.

"Right. We knew that you couldn't physically withstand the pressure the intense breathing that would certainly occur if we..."

"Well, I can now. How would you feel about allowing ourselves to experience that together? I checked the weight limit of this bench. We can both sit on it, in theory anyway."

"Are you sure? I couldn't bear to hurt you."

"I'm sure."

"Then, yes."

Thad washed Kurt's face and rinsed it. Kurt got up on his knees. Thad washed him everywhere he could reach. Kurt stood so he could finish. Kurt washed Thad's hair and rinsed it and then washed him completely like he had done when Thad first got out of the hospital.

Thad rearranged himself and straddled the bench instead of the way he normally sat. He could lean back against the wall and hold the bar if he needed to balance himself. Kurt sat down facing him and kissed him.

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They fed the cake to each other between kissing. Once they had finished, Kurt washed the plate and dried it. Thad got in bed and took the brace off. Kurt turned the light off and got in bed.

Thad turned on his side and so did Kurt. "I love you," Thad said as he wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck.

Kurt kissed him. "No wonder you look forward to showers. You washing me was incredibly sensual. Thank you."

They spent quite a while kissing and holding each other.

"Even in my wildest imagination, I had no idea it would feel so extraordinarily amazing having someone else touch me," Kurt continued.

"I had an idea because you've been washing me with so much love in every touch for so long, but it was extraordinary. I love you so much."

They fell asleep holding each other.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The rest of the week was just a regular week full of schoolwork, classes and rehearsals. Friday night was their first away game. Since Thad could bear weight on his leg, they were able to collapse his wheel chair and store it in the back of the bus and he could ride with the rest of the team. They won again - 28-13.

Thad spent most of Saturday working on the arrangements to the two other songs that had been chosen for Sectionals - "Thank You" by Boyz II Men and "It's Gonna Be Me" by N*SYNC.

Kurt and Sebastian focused on doing the research for the next French paper they had been assigned to write.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sunday morning, Sebastian, Kurt, and Thad had breakfast together.

"I need to know what to wear today," Sebastian said.

"Do you have any plain straight legged jeans and some type of solid t-shirt or something athletic looking?"

"Sure."

"Well wear that then. Don't wear anything that makes you look preppy. Wear athletic shoes of some sort."

"Got it."

"We'll leave at 11:00 to make sure I'm not late. Bring something to study. You two can sit at the Lima Bean or the Shake Shack or something."

"Ooh, shakes sound better than coffee, but I bet the coffee shop is a better place to sit for a while," Sebastian said.

"Alright, we'll get shakes first, then I'll take you to the Lima Bean."

They worked on schoolwork and left at 11:00 as planned. They sang and talked all the way to Lima. Kurt pulled into the Shake Shack parking lot and parked. He got out and went around to help Thad out of the Navigator. He had been released to walk short distances using just the brace on Friday. He was sure he could make it and left his crutch folded on the floorboard.

The three of them had made down the side of the building almost turning the corner when they nearly walked straight into Azimio, Strando, Montgomery and Clarkson.

"I thought we'd run you out of town for good, you fairy. What's this that you've brought with you, more fairies? We can't have that, can we boys?" Azimio snarled.

All of them answered negatively.

Azimio grabbed Kurt. Strando grabbed Thad. Montgomery grabbed Sebastian. They all tried to struggle to get loose, but it was pointless. The three of them were carried around to the back of the building and Clarkson lifted the lid on the dumpster, one of the 6-foot ones. Clarkson helped toss each of them into the dumpster. Loud thuds and screaming could be heard as each of them landed. Azimio yelled. "Let that teach you that we don't want you or your type around here. Go back to wherever you've been, fag." Clarkson flipped the lid shut and the four of them jumped in Azimio's SUV and left.

Inside the dumpster, Thad was screaming, Kurt was crying. Sebastian had landed on top and was the least injured. He managed to pull his phone out of his pocket and dial 911.

"Yes, this is an emergency. Please send an ambulance to the Shake Shack. My friends and I are injured. We're in the dumpster behind the building. Hurry. One of my friends is screaming in pain."

A few minutes later, the siren of the approaching ambulance could be heard. A few minutes after that, Sebastian could see the lid being flipped back and an EMT looking over the side standing on a ladder.

"Are either of the other two bleeding?"

"I can't tell. But Thad needs attention quickly. His leg is in a brace from a car accident three months ago."

"There are only two of us. I'm not sure how to get you out of there."

"Cut us out. Lift us out. Get in here and help me carry them out. Just do something!" Sebastian screamed.

Sebastian could hear fire trucks. As soon as the firemen got there, they were able to get Kurt and Thad out of the dumpster and into the ambulance. Sebastian was taken with them since only one ambulance had been dispatched.

Thad was unconscious by the time they arrived at the emergency room. Kurt wouldn't allow them to separate him from Thad. Since he was hysterical, the nurses just let him be until they could get a doctor into see the two of them. Sebastian was taken into a separate area and his injuries were treated quickly. He mostly just had some bruising that would heal on it's own and some lacerations that were disinfected and bandaged. He requested to see Kurt and Thad, but was told that they had both been taken to x-ray and he would have to wait in the waiting room.

"Are you family?" a nurse asked as she walked up to Sebastian.

"No, they're my friends. We're all over 18. Can't I see them?"

"Yes. Follow me."

"They're in a room together because Kurt wouldn't stop screaming if we try to move Thad out."

"That sounds about right. Thad nearly died in a car wreck about three months ago. Kurt has been his sole caregiver ever since then."

"I see. Well, here we are. Thad's leg that was braced is okay. The brace kept it from being reinjured. Unfortunately, his left arm is broken. He'll have to have pins put in once we can get him into surgery. His left shoulder separated from the impact. He may need surgery for that as well. The doctor will have to examine him. He doesn't have a concussion. It's our assumption that he passed out from the pain. His x-rays show recently healed ribs."

"Yeah, that's from the car wreck."

"What about Kurt?"

"His left arm is broken as well, but it's a simple break. He'll be having it casted shortly. He has bruising and lacerations like you, but he's in much better shape than Thad."

"That's because he was on the bottom and he was already healing from multiple traumas and broken bones from the car wreck."

"Is there anyone you want to call? Your ID is French? Thad's is from out of state. Only Kurt's had a local address."

"Yes, my ID is French. My dad lives outside Columbus. Thad's parents live in Washington State. We should call Kurt's dad, but I don't have his number. He expected Kurt to arrive at their house at 1:00. Where's Kurt's phone? Maybe I can just call his dad from it. I'm sure he's called trying to figure out why Kurt's late."

"Everything from his pockets is in that bag by the bed."

"Why is he not awake?"

"We gave him something to calm him down because he kept screaming. As soon as he wakes up, the police will be here to talk to you. He should wake up soon."

Sebastian called his dad first since he would have a long drive to get there. Next, he grabbed Kurt's phone and swiped it to return the last missed call.

"Kurt, where are you? I've called a dozen times."

"Sir, this isn't Kurt. I'm his friend, Sebastian. Kurt, Thad, and I were attacked at the Shake Shack and we're in the hospital."

"Which hospital?"

"I don't know. Hold on. I have to find someone to ask."

"What hospital is this?" he asked the first person he saw in the hallway.

"She said Lima Memorial."

"We're on our way," Burt said and hung up.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Fifteen minutes later, Burt and Carole were brought to the room the three of them were in.

"What happened?" Burt demanded.

"Four goons attacked us. Three of them grabbed the three of us and the other one helped each of them toss us into the dumpster behind the Shake Shack. The nurse said Kurt's arm is broken and they'll set it once he wakes up. Thad's in bad shape. He needs surgery."

"Oh, my God," Carole said. "That poor boy hasn't even healed from the car wreck."

"I know," Sebastian said. "He was just released to walk without the crutch yesterday at therapy. Today was the first day he tried it. We parked alongside the building and made it to the front corner and you know the rest."

"Does Kurt know the guys?"

"Yes."

"Well, that's good news."

They all sat around waiting for about an hour.

Kurt stirred and opened his eyes. "Dad?"

"Yeah, kiddo. I'm here. Don't move. Sebastian said your arm is broken and not in a cast yet."

"Okay. Where's Thad?"

"He's right here in the room with us," Sebastian said.

"Why was I asleep?"

"They gave you a mild sedative because you were screaming. They needed to x-ray both of you and you wouldn't calm down."

"Oh. Yeah, they tried to take Thad away and put him alone in a room. Is he okay?"

"That depends on your definition of okay. He needs surgery," Sebastian answered.

"I want him taken back to Dublin. To the doctor who did his leg. I don't want him operated on here."

"He'll have to wake up and request that himself," Burt said.

"Is he in a coma?" Kurt asked.

"No," Sebastian answered.

"Sebastian, help me up."

Sebastian moved to Kurt's bed and helped him out.

Kurt went to Thad's bed and spoke gently to Thad. He caressed his face and ran his thumb across his lips. "Thad, love, wake up. Please, please wake up. I know you're in pain, but I need you to wake up." Kurt was crying.

Thad blinked. "Kurrr..."

"Yes, love, wake up. If you want to be transferred back to Dublin, you'll have to request it yourself. Or I can try to get your mom to do it." Kurt turned back toward everyone. "Where's my phone?"

Sebastian handed it to him. Kurt called Ellen. He was crying so hard, he could barely talk. He eventually handed the phone to Sebastian. He explained what happened. She said she'd fly out as soon as she could get a flight and to hold off on any non-emergency surgeries until she got there.

The police were brought into the room. The instant both officers were in the room, Kurt spoke. "It was Azimio Adams, Chris Strando, Charlie Montgomery and Bill Clarkson. All from the McKinley High School football team. I want to press charges for any and everything they can be charged with."

"My dad's the State's Attorney and he'll here shortly. I'm sure he'll tell you exactly what charges he wants brought against the four of them."

The police muttered something no one could hear. "We'll send out officers to pick the four of them up and take them down to the station. When should we expect Mr. Smythe to arrive?"

"That would be me," Arthur Smythe said. "Let's speak in private. These boys won't answer any more of your questions without me present anyway. I'll meet you in the hall in five minutes."

The police officers left.

"What did either of you say to them?"

"Kurt named our assailants and that's it."

"You know the people who did this?"

"I went to school with them my whole life until last year when I transferred to Dalton."

"Well, that will make this easier. Stay in here."

Sebastian's dad was gone for about 5 minutes. "I'm going to the Shake Shack. Can either of you..."

"Burt Hummel," Burt extended his hand. Mr. Smythe shook it. "And Carole, my wife." She nodded.

"Arthur Smythe. Can one of you please come with me to the Shake Shack?"

Carole stood. "I'll go with you." They left.

"Well, the Lima Police Department will not know what hit them. My dad is a force of nature when he's determined."

"Good," Burt said.

Kurt was still standing by Thad. The nurse came back in.

"Why are you out of bed? Never mind. Please come back to the bed. I have what I need to cast your arm. What color do you want?"

"Is it a waterproof cast?"

"No. Just a regular one."

"Then I don't want any color. Either put a waterproof cast on or I will refuse treatment until we get to Dublin and I'll have a waterproof cast put on there."

"You are awfully bossy," she said.

"I know what I want. It will be me taking care of him. I can't bathe him if I can't get my own arm wet. He had a waterproof cast on after his wreck. I know they exist."

"I'll see what I can do," she said and left.

"I want transferred to Dublin. Both of us. I just have to get him awake enough that he can make the request himself," Kurt said after she left. He went back over to Thad's bed.

"Thad, love, you have to wake up long enough to request to leave here and go to Dublin."

"Kurt? Everything hurts."

"I know, love. We have to get you back to Dublin so the surgeon can fix you back up." Kurt turned. "Get the nurse in here now."

Sebastian went and got her.

"I want transferred to Dublin," Kurt stated firmly. "Come closer and listen."

"Send me to Dublin," Thad said weakly.

"Fine. He'll have to be transported by ambulance."

"Whatever. Just do it," Kurt said.

An hour later, Thad was on his way to Dublin in an ambulance and Sebastian was driving Kurt in the Navigator, which Carole had brought back from the Shake Shack. Burt and Carole stayed behind with Mr. Smythe to deal with the police.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt called Ellen on the way to Dublin and told her where they were headed.

Thad was taken in through the ER. His original surgeon had been called in. He looked at Thad's x-rays and examined him. "He'll need a rod put in his left arm. The break is clean through the area that had just healed from being fractured. He'll need physical therapy for his shoulder again after it heals. There's a slight fracture, but with the rod in, he'll have to wear a specialized sling which will immobilize his shoulder anyway."

"He's a guitarist. Will he recover full use of his left hand?"

"He should."

"Good," Kurt said through tears.

"Kurt, try to remain calm. I know it's hard. I will do my very best."

"I know. That's why I prodded him until I could get him awake enough to tell the nurse he wanted to be brought here."

"I appreciate the vote of confidence. I'm going to go prep while the nurses get Thad ready for surgery. I looked at your x-ray. Let someone set your arm while we're gone."

"I will."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Three hours later, Thad had been moved to a hospital room and Ellen was on her way in a cab.

When she arrived, Sebastian and Kurt were in Thad's room with him. Kurt was half asleep from the painkillers he had been given for his arm. Sebastian was reading a book on his phone. Thad was asleep.

Ellen came in the room quietly. "You must be Sebastian. I'm Ellen, Thad's mom."

"It's nice to meet you, not under these circumstances though."

"I'm beginning to hate Ohio. I know Thad loves it at Dalton, but enough is enough. He was so excited when he called last night and said that he had been released to walk short distances without his crutch. He's going to be back in that chair from this. And now Kurt's arm is broken too. That's just going to make everything harder."

"Well, Kurt's the most determined person I have ever met and I'm sure that even in his half-dazed, medicated state over there that he is plotting on how he will still care for Thad while getting all of his schoolwork done and kicking footballs every Friday night."

"Will he be able to play with that cast on his arm?"

"I am certain that he will find a way, even if he has to dig up some well-hidden loophole to do it."

Ellen nodded and laughed.

"Let me go get someone to bring in another chair. Have mine," Sebastian said as he stood up.

"Thank you."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A few hours later, Kurt woke up. He looked around and remembered where he was.

Sebastian was sitting in a chair, unable to sleep.

"Sebastian, why are you still here?"

"Where would I go? Why would I leave you?"

"Back to Dalton. You have class in a few hours."

"So do you."

"We've both been excused, and Thad too, obviously. All four culprits were picked up last night. My dad acquired the video surveillance evidence. They were offered a lengthy publicly humiliating trial or a plea of guilty to a long list of reduced charges."

"That was fast. Those jerks have been bullying me for years."

"But this time they did it on private property that was monitored by video security."

"And this time, they hurt you and your dad is important. If it had just been me tossed into the dumpster, the police would have conveniently lost the video recording and the four of them would have never have even been picked up. I would have been given the same old tired 'boys will be boys' speech and told to be more careful, IF I had said I wanted to file charges."

"You can't be serious."

"Deadly serious. That was my last trip to Lima. I won't go back unless I have a bodyguard. This is all my fault. I should have gone alone and gone straight to my house. Then none of this would have happened. How many times did I have to be warned that I wasn't wanted? Why didn't I heed the warning and stay away? Thad's going to be back in that chair and it's all my fault." Kurt started sobbing.

Ellen had woken up enough to hear the end of what Kurt had said. She got out of her chair and walked over to Kurt's.

She got down her knees in front of him and took his hands in hers. "Kurt, sweetheart, listen to me carefully. This is no different than the car wreck. You didn't blame yourself for that. Do NOT blame yourself for this. Did you pick Thad up and toss him into that dumpster?"

"No."

"Then you did not do this to him. Kurt, I know how much you love him. Those four reprobates assaulted the three of you. They will pay for this. There is no way to make Thad's pain go away more quickly, but there is a way to make him hurt more and that will be for you to blame yourself. Look at me."

Kurt lifted his head. He was sobbing.

"You know in your heart that I am right. You know that blaming yourself will only hurt Thad."

Kurt nodded. "You're right. You're right. Thank you. He won't want me to blame myself. It will be the hardest thing I've ever done not to though."

Thad stirred. "Kurt?"

Ellen moved to the side. Kurt jumped up and went to Thad's side.

"I'm here. Your mom's here too. You're in Dublin. Your surgery is over." Kurt took Thad's right hand and held it.

"Why are you crying so hard?"

"Because those oafs hurt you."

"Are you okay?"

"My left arm is broken. I'll be fine."

"Sebastian?"

"Yes," Sebastian answered and got up.

"He's here too. He's okay."

Sebastian stepped up to the side of the bed. "He's right. I'm fine other than some scrapes and bruises. The four guys have been picked up and they're being held in the Lima municipal jail. My dad has given them the option of a plea bargain if they confess."

"Okay." Thad fell back asleep.

"And your dad is?" Ellen asked.

"The State's Attorney."

"I see. That ought to make them think twice about turning down the plea offer."

"It should. If they don't, he will be merciless and they will regret their choice. He'll have the trial moved out of Lima and the best attorney money and influence can buy will prosecute those four. They won't know what hit them. I can guarantee that as soon as they are convicted, their names will be all over the news. Once they get out of jail, they'll have to leave the state to find work. He is not the type to cross."

"That's kind of scary, Sebastian. Your father doesn't hurt you does he?"

"No. He's never laid a finger on me. He is not abusive. He is thorough and leaves no stone unturned. A great ally and a foe to be feared. But he would never hurt me. Tell me what to do and expect it done, definitely. But I think being bossy is part of the job description of a father."

Ellen laughed. "For many, I think so. I don't think Donovan has ever told Thad what to do. He's the ultimate negotiator. He always managed to convince Thad that whatever Donovan wanted him to do was fun. It was actually entertaining to watch. He could get Thad to do his chores like they were the most fun thing in the world."

"Is that what he does?"

"Yes. He and I are negotiators, mostly at the top corporate level, although we have done contract work for government agencies. We're based out of Seattle right now. Once Thad is released, I'll have to go back. We had to push back the deal we were supposed to start working on tomorrow. Fortunately, we were headed to New York, so it won't be a long flight if I need to come back. We'll be there for at least a week once we start. Did the doctor give an idea of when Thad would be released?"

"We didn't see the doctor after the surgery. He'll probably be in to see him in a few hours."

"If you want, I can drive you back to Dalton once it's light out and come back here. I've driven Kurt's Navigator before. It won't be a problem."

"Okay. After we find out when he's getting out or at least some news of some sort."

Kurt had fallen back asleep in the chair holding Thad's hand.

"He won't leave him here at night. He never left the last time he was in the hospital. He is the most devoted person. He stayed with Thad all summer. Took him to every therapy appointment, did the exercises with him every day, cooked for him, did everything for him."

"The two of them are like, I don't know how to explain it. They work together so well, it's like they're one person. I've never seen them argue. It's not just one sided either. I've seen Thad comfort Kurt when he got an upsetting phone call. But somehow neither one of them ever makes me feel uncomfortable, like they wish I'd go away and leave them alone. Kurt is the biggest badass I have ever seen. I was out of line with some things I said at the beginning of the school year and he came down on me with the most gentle voice and absolute fire in his eyes and put me in my place, which I completely deserved. I apologized and he's been absolutely amazing. He's been the most helpful person I've met since I came here."

"Here? Where are you from?"

"Paris."

"That's a surprise."

"Everyone says that because I have an American accent. My _maman_ and I lived here with my dad until I was four."

"I see."

"They had to sedate Kurt earlier because he was screaming when they tried to take Thad away from him."

"I can see that," she smiled sadly. "Especially given how guilty he's feeling about the whole thing."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They tried to get some rest, but Ellen and Sebastian couldn't really find a way to sleep in their chairs. The pain medication that Kurt had taken helped him sleep until it wore off around 7:00. Around 8:00, the doctor came in to check on Thad.

"He mostly slept during the night," Kurt said.

"Well, his scans and everything look good. He doesn't have another concussion. His shoulder will heal. The pin is in place in his arm. That will take 6-8 weeks to heal, no weight bearing on that arm at all. His hand usage should not be affected once he can start physical therapy again. His leg looks good. He will be back in the chair until his overall mobility is improved. It could be a few days or a few weeks. Bruising and sprains take time to heal and we haven't been able to determine whether he has any sprains since he's been out of it most of the time. The physical therapist he sees will be able to determine what support he needs."

"When can he leave?" Kurt asked.

"As soon as he's awake enough to say that he wants to leave pretty much. We need to see that he's coherent and that he can go to the bathroom."

"What about my arm? Can I still play football? I may have to leave the school if I can't play. My home district is where I was attacked yesterday."

"What position do you play?"

"Kicker."

"If your coach can design a strong defense for your kick offs, I will sign off on you playing."

"Thank you. I will do pretty much whatever it takes to stay where I am."

The doctor nodded in understanding and left.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Arthur Smythe walked in two hours later. "It's over."

"What do you mean, Mr. Smythe?" Kurt asked quietly. He was the only one in the room. Ellen had taken Sebastian back to school and hadn't gotten back yet.

"The four young men agreed and signed the pleas this morning. They'll be residing in the Lima jail for the next two years. They'll finish their high school work while incarcerated. They will be required to pay restitution covering the cost of the medical treatment the three of you require once they are released."

"How on earth did you get them to agree to that?" Kurt asked.

"I told them that I would go for felony assault and battery charges and that I would bring in the FBI to investigate the possibility of this being a hate crime. They would get 6 years in a state prison and a felony record, making it nearly impossible to get a good job once they got out. I convinced them that it would be better to take the plea and avoid a felony record."

"Those four have harassed me since I was in elementary school and no one ever did a thing about it. Yesterday was not my first dumpster dive. That dumpster is bigger than the ones at school though, so the height we all fell from was higher than my previous trips into a dumpster. And the fact that it had been recently emptied caused Thad to get hurt so much worse than he would have if he had fallen onto trash bags. It's disgusting, but they do break the fall."

"We need to talk at some point. Your former school is in violation of several laws."

"That's an understatement. Even teachers saw me assaulted and injured and did nothing about it. A student threatened to kill me last fall and he was expelled and his parents appealed and he was back at school a few days later. That's when I transferred to Dalton."

"That's very disturbing. Schools are supposed to be safe zones."

Kurt laughed out loud. "School has been the main source of my torment my whole life."

"You could sue the school."

"I'd rather the school be forced to change than to take money from the students to defend idiotic administrators and lackadaisical teachers that should just be fired."

"We can talk about it some other time."

"Alright. I'm sorry that Sebastian got hurt. He was just coming along because I invited him. We stopped for shakes. He and Thad were going to hang out for a bit while I met with my parents at my house. He and Thad came along mostly to keep me company on the long drive."

"You didn't throw him into a dumpster. Those hoodlums did. People spend time with their friends every day and don't end up in the hospital. Although maybe it would be better for the three of you to stay out of Lima."

"Not a problem. I didn't want to go back to start with, but my dad wanted me to come home to talk to him and my stepmother. I asked him to come to Westerville, but he insisted. I try to be a reasonable son and do as I'm asked. My stepbrother has been telling my dad that the bullying has stopped at school. An anti-bullying club was started. I didn't buy it, but my stepbrother said it was working and he's there and I'm not. My dad believed him."

"Well, those four particular bullies will not be at that school to cause any more trouble."

"I wish there were no others that would fill their shoes, but that's very unlikely."

"Well, I can tell you one thing I'm pretty confident about - I can force the school district to reimburse your family for your costs for attending Dalton."

"You'd have to talk to my dad about what he ended up paying last year. I was on academic scholarship. This year I have an academic and a sports scholarship. My family isn't paying anything for me to attend Dalton."

"You must be quite the student to be the recipient of an academic scholarship. Those are very difficult to obtain."

"I took whatever tests I was given. I've been in AP classes since I enrolled. I have a 4.0 grade point average. It went up when I transferred because Dalton's PE classes are Pass/Fail and do not get figured into a student's GPA."

"How could a sports scholarship recipient have done badly in PE?"

"Well, that would be because I refused to change into the appropriate gym clothing frequently because I was tormented in the locker room. So, I got marked down a lot for not being 'dressed out'. And on top of that, the other guys generally made it impossible for me to do well. They'd knock into me. Stuff like that."

"I see."

"You were talking about the cost of Dalton being covered by McKinley. You can talk to my dad about that. I can give you his number, if you need it."

"I got it from him yesterday. The three of you headed here and I talked to your parents then about the possible plea bargains. Your dad insisted that you would want them to have the possibility of reforming and becoming productive citizens rather than going in for the felony assault and battery charges."

"He's right. All I've ever wanted was just for them to leave me alone. I'm not a vengeful person."

"Well, the four of them will not be able to bother you any time soon."

Kurt just realized the implications of what he had done. "Oh, God. I appreciate that, but you realize I have an even bigger target on my back now, right?"

"What do you mean?"

"Those four were on the football team. We play McKinley this season. I will have to sit that game out and not even attend or I will have to have bodyguards just to sit on the bench. Otherwise, I will end up as a smear on the football field that night. None of them will care that they will be penalized in the game for coming after me. I just caused four of their main players to end up jail. I will never be able to go to Lima, not that I had planned to, but now I will not be able to. The 'just don't get caught' mentality is HUGE there, just talk to my stepmother. Actually, that would be really informative for you. Get her perspective on these issues. My stepbrother is a reforming homophobe with the Lima ingrained 'just don't get caught' mentality."

"This sounds like gang violence."

"Except that in 'smear the queer', there is no gang that has his back. This will not teach the homophobes not to attack gays. It will solidify the 'don't get caught doing it' mentality. They will tail me to a place they are sure has no video cameras before grabbing me again. The lesson I will be taught is that just because I got high and mighty and made friends with people who have influential fathers doesn't change the fact that I'm nothing and I need to remember my place. This could haunt me for the rest of my life."

"You told the police you wanted to prosecute them."

"I did. In a fit of rage over what they had done to Thad. I've brought whatever happens to me on myself. And I will be at the center of anything else that happens to Sebastian and Thad because of this. If I had been thinking rationally at that moment, I would have let it go like I always did when I lived in Lima. But when I saw Thad hurt so badly, I wasn't being rational."

"You're saying that you would have said nothing if it had only been you."

"Exactly. And now I have to live with the fact that I've endangered two other people all because I was angry and scared. I'm sorry for endangering Sebastian. I'm really, really sorry." Tears ran down Kurt's face. "And I just put every gay person at McKinley in danger. Anyone in the closet will be looking for ways to lock themselves inside."

"You can't blame yourself for what other people do."

"That's a nice sentiment. But if you leave a steak knife in the middle of a playpen and the toddler stabs himself or uses it to cut his way out of the playpen and then leaves the house only to get run over by a car - whose fault is it that the kid is injured or dead?"

"This isn't the same."

"Maybe not, but the end result may be for the next outed kid."

"Well, this conversation did not go the way I had expected it to. You've given me a lot to think about, but I already rescheduled my early morning appointments and I have to get to the office."

"I understand. Thanks for coming by."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Ellen came back about 11:00. Thad was awake and talking to Kurt when she came in the room.

"I'm glad to see that you're awake. You can go back to school if you want. The doctor said you could."

"Well, I don't want to be here. That's for sure."

"Press the nurses button and when she comes down, we'll tell her you want to be released. I brought the clothes that Kurt told Sebastian to get from your room." She laid them on the end of the bed.

"Our clothes from yesterday are in the bag in the cabinet. I'll get them when we leave."

The nurse came in.

"I'd like to be released," Thad said.

"I'll get the paperwork ready."

"I can shower, right?"

"With help, of course. Should I send someone down to help you?"

"Nope, I've got it covered."

"I'll be back with the papers."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After a lot of struggle, Kurt and Thad returned to the room wearing their sweatpants. Kurt had his football hoodie on. Thad was wearing a button up shirt because Kurt knew better than to try to put a pull-on shirt on him with his shoulder reinjured. Kurt put the pants he had been wearing into the bag with Thad's clothes. Since he only had a broken arm, he had managed to keep his pants during the whole ordeal. He left the hospital gowns on the end of the bed to ask the nurse about.

Kurt helped Thad get back into the bed so his left side was on the edge of the bed. He put up the side rail and went around to the other side of the bed and got in the bed too. He interlaced their fingers despite the fact that he had a cast on his arm. They lay there and talked to Ellen while they waited for everything to be processed.

"I think we need to stop someplace that sells those egg crate foam bed toppers or a really thick regular foam topper. Thad's covered in bruises and that will make lying in the bed more comfortable. The school beds are not very cushiony."

"We can do that."

"I may have to sacrifice at least a couple of his Dalton uniform shirts. His new cast will be bigger. I'm not certain I can get his shirts over his cast. So, the school either has to decide that he can break the dress code by wearing a short-sleeved button up shirt or I'll just cut the sleeve off above the brace to allow him to wear the required shirt. Maybe we should call the school and ask. If he can wear short sleeves, we could get a couple of those when we stop to get a foam topper."

"Mom, will you get me my phone?"

She handed it to him. He called the school.

"I still need to wear a long-sleeved shirt for class."

"Maybe yours will go on, we'll just have to see."

"If you have to cut the sleeve, it's fine. He can just buy new ones once his cast is off," Ellen said.

"I want to go eat somewhere. I'm starving," Thad said, changing the subject intentionally.

Kurt responded, "You pick and we'll go there as soon as they bring those papers."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Later that evening, Thad was in bed comfortably thanks to the additional padding the foam topper provided. Kurt went to dinner with Sebastian and he brought Thad's dinner back and fed it to him so that he wouldn't have to move after finally getting comfortable.

Since they had all of the same classes, Kurt began reading their assigned reading out loud so that Thad could rest his shoulder. After he finished reading, he put the books away and showered. He came back and turned the lights off.

"Do you want me to sleep in the extra bed?"

"No. Please sleep with me."

Kurt leaned over without putting any weight on the bed and kissed Thad gently. He got in the bed as gently as he could and lay on his side with his back toward Thad, giving him as much room as he possibly could.

"Please turn on your back, at least for a while."

Kurt turned carefully. Thad took his hand. "Thank you for caring for me yet again."

"I wish I had gone alone. I'm so sorry." Kurt was crying, but trying to stay calm.

"You didn't do this."

"But it's because of me. If I had just dropped the two of you off. If they hadn't seen you with me. If I had just taken you to the Lima Bean." Kurt cried.

"Stop, please. Kurt." Thad squeezed his hand.

"I know. I know you don't want me to say those things, but you also told me that you didn't want me to hide things from you. I can't do both. I can't be honest with you and hide that I feel this way."

"You're right. I don't want you to hide how you feel. I won't ask you to stop expressing how you feel. I'm sorry about that. I just want you to know that I don't blame you."

"Thank you."

"Let's try to sleep."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad was excused from classes again on Wednesday. Kurt brought him lunch and checked on him. They ate together and Kurt went back to class.

He gave Sebastian his room key and asked him to check on Thad after Warbler's rehearsal since he had to go to football practice. He had already missed two days, so he couldn't miss again.

The coach repositioned a few team members to guard Kurt after the kick offs and punts to keep him from getting injured. They ran the plays a few times with their new formations.

Kurt stayed behind after the practice was over and talked to Coach Moreland. He asked to speak to him after he had showered and changed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"What is it that I can do for you, Kurt?"

"I'm sorry about you having to make changes to our plays because of my injury."

"From my understanding, that wasn't your fault."

"Well, my injury is causing you difficulty. And I don't know how to deal with the issue of playing McKinley. They will not play by the rules if I play in that game. Somehow the team will have to beat them without me. I won't escape injury if I'm put in during that game."

"What do you mean?"

"It was members of the McKinley football team that attacked me, Thad and Sebastian. They do not know I play football here, but when they find out, when they see me, they will not be bound by the rules of the game. A 15-yard penalty for roughhousing the kicker will not deter them from intentionally targeting me."

Coach Moreland looked at the wall to check their schedule. "We don't play them until October 14th. That's a little over four weeks from now. I'll work on something. I'm not sure."

"I'm really sorry."

"Kurt, another team taking vengeance on an opposing team member is against the rules. You have nothing to be sorry about."

"Some of them hate me. I knew that it would be a hard game because they would come after me. It would have been easier if they had been our first game of the season because they wouldn't have time to strategize. Four weeks is a long time to plan my destruction - if they do already know that I'm on the team."

"Are you sure you aren't overreacting?"

"One of them threatened to kill me last year. That's how I ended up here. Now that it's 'my fault'," Kurt used finger quotes, "that their teammates are in jail, there's no telling what they'll do. I was doing my best to stay off their radar. Then I had to be stupid and get the brilliant idea of taking my friends to get milkshakes on the way to my house."

The coach said nothing.

"It might be easier if I just left the team than to put you in the position of trying to plan around my injury. Maybe it would just be better if I left the school and this state."

Kurt walked out of the coach's office.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt hurried back to his room to take care of Thad. When he got there, Thad was asleep, but woke up when Kurt was moving around in the room.

"I'm sorry. I was trying to be quiet."

"No need to be sorry. I want to see if I can go to dinner. Will you help me into the bathroom? I want to comb my hair and brush my teeth."

Kurt helped him with everything. He even managed to make it look like Thad was following the dress code by letting him wear a cardigan over a short-sleeved shirt.

"I still need to fix at least one of your shirts, but this will do for now." Kurt helped Thad into his chair and pushed him to the cafeteria. There were a few Warblers at one of the tables. Kurt pushed Thad up to the table with them and got in line to get their food. Eating with everyone else took Kurt's mind off of his problems for a little while. They talked about TV shows that Kurt never watched, sports, music, all of it creating a block to Kurt's ability to focus on his thoughts, which was what he needed.

After dinner, they went back to their room. Thad managed to get his written work done despite the pain in his shoulder. He was supposed to try to return to class the next day and he needed to turn in his work from the previous days. Kurt struggled to keep his mind focused, but he got his work done as well.

Showering since the assault had become a much more time consuming process again since Thad couldn't bathe himself again. Kurt never complained and set about doing it with as much care as he had before. But he struggled not to cry the entire time, not always succeeding in holding the tears back.

When Kurt was putting Thad's brace back on, Thad spoke to him gently, "I will heal again. It will be easier to shower once the stitches come out and they recast my arm with a waterproof cast. It will be okay." Thad said.

Kurt just nodded and helped him up. He got him in bed and took the brace back off his leg, turned the lights off, and got in bed.

"Aren't you angry? Why is it that I'm the only one who cries? I know you're in pain. You're not just holding it all inside? You wanted me to be honest. I need you to be honest too."

"Yes, I am in physical pain. That will subside eventually. Honestly, after what you told me happened to your mother, my perspective changed. I was furious and then I realized that I was still here when so many people don't survive what I did. That changed my perspective. Yeah, what they did to me caused a setback in my recovery, but I woke up in the hospital. I woke up. You were there. I don't want to spend the time I do have being angry. I love you. I want to live. We just have this one life. Some people get really long ones, others very short ones. I want to spend mine with you and enjoy the time I have."

"You're right. I'm not... I don't... I..."

Thad interlaced their fingers.

Kurt took a deep breath and started again. "It's just that until last November, I was scared and alone for the most part. I put on a brave front. I came here and the fear dissipated. And in March, my loneliness was gone when you took a chance and asked me out. Almost three months later, you were nearly taken from me. Nearly losing you brought back so much pain that I thought I had healed from. You were finally up and around and I was so happy for you and then that was taken away in a flash by people who despise me. I will try my best to see what you see. I want what you want. I just have to let the anger go. I'll try harder."

Thad lifted his right leg and crossed it over Kurt's left leg. It was the best he could do since they couldn't actually hold each other until his shoulder healed again. He squeezed Kurt's hand and pulled it up to his lips and kissed Kurt's knuckles. He lowered their hands back down.

"I know you will do your best. You always do. I love you. You love me. We're strong. We'll get well. Disney is waiting. We're going to go and have a blast. You know, the other guys could afford to go. We could get Sebastian, Jeff, Nick... I'm not sure who else is already 18. Maybe Richard? We'd have to ask. Maybe before Thanksgiving. Our casts will be off. I might not be allowed on a few rides, but most of them are pretty tame. I could use a motorized cart if I have to. Or we can go just the two of us. We can think about it. Either way, we're going to have a great time. You have 7 weeks left of football. If you count football camp, this week's game is the halfway point."

"I'll think about that. We need to start figuring out where to apply for college too. That will help me focus on the future too."

Kurt got up and grabbed Thad's arm brace and put it back on before they went to sleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thursday morning, Kurt received a note during first period to report to the Guidance Counselor's office. He grabbed his books and satchel and went to her office.

He knocked.

"Come in, Kurt."

"Good morning, Miss Webber. What did you need to see me about?"

"Well, as you know I am the guidance counselor, but I am also a licensed therapist. I help students prepare for their futures and deal with the struggles of daily life too."

"Yes, Miss Webber."

"It has been brought to my attention that perhaps you are in need of some help with your daily struggles right now."

"I appreciate the offer, but I'm fine."

"Well, I don't appreciate being lied to, Kurt. I know you are not fine. Please at least be honest with me. I am trying to offer you my help."

"I'm sorry, Miss Webber. My experience with guidance counselors is less than positive. I will not lie to you. I am not fine, but I don't want to talk about it."

"Thank you. Honesty - that I can work with. Whether you want to talk about it or not, I do need to ask you a few questions, so please have a seat."

"Yes, Miss Webber." Kurt sat down.

"Are you a flight risk?"

"No. I will never leave Thad behind. He is in no shape to leave."

"Are you a danger to yourself? Are you having feelings of despair to the point of considering ending your life?"

"No. Again, I would never leave Thad behind like that. I'm not going to hurt myself. I am angry at a world who sees me, and others like me, as expendable and unworthy of being alive. I am angry at people who want to hurt me, and people like me, just because we exist - not because of something we've actually done. But I am not suicidal or a flight risk. I may have said some things in the last few days that may have made it seem like I was. I will watch the words I use more carefully. It is stressful knowing that there are people that want to hurt me who are walking around free in Lima. I have to face them in a football game in a few weeks. I will be lucky to walk away from that game with just the broken arm that I already have - that I got at the hands of members of that team who are now in jail. I made a terrible mistake. I did the right thing. The right thing was the mistake."

She looked at him confused.

"I wanted them to pay for what they had done. They broke the law. They assaulted us. I told the police I wanted to pursue prosecuting them. That was the right thing and a terrible mistake. Their friends will not refrain from retaliating. I've endangered myself, the person I love, and my newest friend. The internal conflict is hard to deal with."

"I can see your point. The other reason I called you down here is that your parents will be arriving at 9:30 to speak to you. We have a small conference room where you can speak to them. Here's a pass for you to return to class, another to leave your second period class on time to be here and a second pass for you to go back to class when you're finished speaking with your parents."

Kurt took all of the passes. "Yes, Miss Webber." Kurt stood and left her office.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt arrived and was shown to the conference room.

"Dad. Why are you here?"

"Well, you were supposed to come to the house on Sunday and never made it, but that didn't change the fact that I needed to talk to you. I tried to give you a few days to recover and get caught up on your schoolwork. I'm sorry for making you miss class, but I had no choice."

"What's going on?"

"I've entered the race for the special Congressional election in November. The press release goes out this afternoon and I'm holding a press conference as well. I didn't want you to hear it from someone else - I wanted to tell you myself."

"I didn't know you had any political aspirations at all, Dad."

"Well, I didn't until the school cut the budget for the fall musical and I found out that Sue is running on a platform to cut arts funding for schools as a way to meet budget shortfalls. She's running as a Republican. There's already a Democrat candidate, so I'm running as an Independent."

"Well, I think it's a great idea. We need some real people who live normal, regular lives to be politicians. And I hate the idea of Sue being a congresswoman. That's all kinds of crazy."

"Tell me about it."

Carole spoke up. "This is a letter from Finn. He wrote it himself. I have no idea what it says. I didn't ask him to do it. Since you've blocked him from calling or texting or emailing you, he asked me to bring it and give it to you."

"Thanks?"

"I'm sorry I asked you to come to Lima on Sunday. I honestly just didn't want to spend three hours driving with all of the planning I've been doing to get the campaign off the ground. You made it perfectly clear that you didn't want to come. I'm sorry."

"I accept your apology. I should have driven straight to the house. We can't undo what's already happened, but I won't be back in Lima if I have anything to say about it."

"We'll meet other places," Carole said.

Kurt nodded.

"How's Thad doing?" she asked.

"As well as possible, I guess. He's back in the wheelchair again. His shoulder is a mess. He was graduating to just one therapy session a week and now he'll be back to two or three once his shoulder heals enough that he can start therapy. He's in class for the first day this week."

"How's your arm?"

"I have so much on my mind, I don't really even think about it. It is making it harder to lift Thad, but we're managing."

"Good. Good. That's good."

"Was there anything else? I'm not trying to be rude. I'm missing class and I really need to get back, if there isn't anything else."

"Nothing else right now."

"Alright then. Good luck with the election. I'll vote for you."

Kurt stood up. Burt and Carole got up too. They hugged and Kurt went back to class.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad's shoulder improved enough for him to start therapy again. The stitches were removed. His incision healed enough to cast his arm and he only had another week or so of needing to wear the sling.

The next couple of weeks were filled with the routine tasks of classes, schoolwork, rehearsals, and practices for Kurt. The Warblers learned a simple version of "Uptown Girl" to sing at the upcoming Family Weekend event. Both weeks were away games for the football team, which they won.

The third week after the incident, the Warblers relearned "Go the Distance" since it required no dancing to add to "Uptown Girl", which they continued to practice.

Burt and Carole were both coming to the football game, and they had made reservations at a nearby hotel so they could attend the Family Weekend events the next day with Kurt.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Uptown Girl" was lead by Sebastian. Jeff and Nick auditioned and won the back up lead parts. Kurt bowed out since Nick and Jeff had auditioned for solos so many times without getting one. He wanted them to have a chance to shine. And even though it wasn't for a competition, at least their parents would see it.

What was a complete surprise was that Blaine walked into the music room and leaned against the doorway when they were rehearsing. Kurt was part of the group for the song and knew his part well. He was sitting off in the corner with Thad resting, but still singing. He knew he had a long night ahead of him since it was straight to practice then the game. He saw Blaine come in, but didn't move.

Sebastian pulled Blaine into the song not long after he noticed him standing there. The Warblers started showing off for one of the French teachers who looked in on them, and they followed her out the door. Kurt couldn't see what was going on in the hallway and he didn't care enough to get up and go look. The Warblers and Blaine came back in and started freestyling, which wasn't part of the song at all, but they had obviously already completely lost their focus after singing in the hallway.

When the song was over, Nick hugged Blaine and Trent gushed about Blaine being there.

"Is this your triumphant return to Dalton?"

"Actually, I'm here to invite you guys to my opening night at McKinley. _West Side Story_. I reserved a whole block of tickets just for the Warblers. It would mean the world to me if you guys could come."

Jeff said, "We'll be there. Once a Warbler, always a Warbler, right?"

"Yes." and "Alright." and other affirmations could be heard amongst the Warblers.

The Warblers walked back toward the front of the room. Sebastian hung back.

"Blaine Anderson." He extended his hand. "Sebastian Smythe." Blaine shook his hand.

"Hi." Blaine said enthusiastically. "Are you a freshman?"

"Do I look like a freshman?" Sebastian replied sarcastically.

Blaine stammered. Sebastian asked him to the commons on the ground floor for coffee. They sat at a table and talked.

"So, you're a legend at Dalton."

"Well, I..."

"Don't be modest. I was like, 'I don't know who this Blaine guy is, but apparently he's sex on a stick and sings like a dream.' So, sucks that I missed him."

Blaine lowed his head and leaned on his hand bashfully.

"Alright. Since I'm working to recreate your meteoric ascent, I need to ask, why did you leave Dalton? Were you bored with all the preppies around here? Or is that you broke too many hearts to stay?"

"Uh, it wasn't like that. Let's just say that I miss Dalton every day, but McKinley is where my heart is now."

They sat and chatted for another half hour before Sebastian excused himself. Blaine stayed sitting at the table. He looked back over his shoulder with an excited, but torn look on his face, clearly struggling with what he was feeling.

He texted Jeff and got a group of the Warblers to come back down into the commons area so they could talk some more.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

It was another afternoon of football practice followed by eating on the field. The defense had done a good job keeping Kurt safe over the last few weeks. Kurt just hoped that continued. He was more nervous than usual because this time he knew that his parents were watching and that they were not pleased that he chosen to continue to play football with a broken arm.

The game finally started and the defensive line did do its job. Kurt did not get injured in the game. They won 28-24, which was their closest game of the season.

Kurt had brought regular clothes to change into and both his and Thad's letter jackets. They met Burt and Carole in the parking lot. They all got in Carole's car and headed to the Chinese restaurant. Thad was back to only needing the chair for long distances, so when they got there, Kurt left his wheelchair in the trunk and the four of them headed inside. Thad told Kurt what he wanted and Burt did the same with Carole. Kurt and Carole waited in line.

"Your team is really good. That was your what? Fourth win?"

"Our sixth. We're undefeated."

"That's really good. The Titans have won three game so far."

"I feel bad for the guys on the team that work hard because they lost four people they needed for their team. But those guys had plenty of chances to not be jerks. It's not like it was the first time they had done something to deserve getting in trouble. If the school had come down on them back in junior high and taught them to be decent people or at least required them to behave like decent people to keep playing sports, the team wouldn't be missing players."

"I know, honey."

"Blaine came to Dalton today and brought tickets for all of the Warblers to go see _West Side Story_. I'm not sure what to think about it. No one besides me, Thad and Sebastian know the details of how the three of us got hurt. We've stuck to our story that we had an accident the day we went to Lima."

"Why?"

"I didn't want to create any more hostility. We play McKinley in a few sports and things like debate. They know someone threatened me last year, but I never gave any description, so they don't know who it was."

Their order was up and they carried the trays and supplies to the table. They unloaded the trays and stacked them out of the way.

"So, that was a good game, Kurt. Thad and I were talking about your team's statistics. You are on fire for field goals. You haven't missed any this season."

"I need to earn my keep. You always said, if was going to do something, I should do it right."

"I know. I know. But if you keep it up, I wouldn't be surprised if you don't have scouts after you soon."

"Football scouts?"

"Yeah, to offer you scholarships to play for their colleges. Accurate kickers are gold for teams. Just like tonight's game, oftentimes the winning team is the one with the best kicker."

"I had never even considered playing football in college. It doesn't really sound like something I'd like to do, but I guess if scouts want to talk to me, I'll be polite and listen to what they have to say. I don't have a lot of money for college and if a school I can't afford, but really want to go to, offered me a scholarship to play football, I might consider it. Maybe. But first I really need to figure out where I really want to go to college."

"That's true. When are applications due?" Carole asked.

"That depends on the school. December to late January I think, for most of them. Some schools have early admission, so their dates would have to be sooner."

They continued to talk about colleges while they ate. After they finished eating, Burt and Carole dropped Kurt and Thad back off at Dalton.

"Don't forget the family breakfast is from 8:00-9:00. Text me when you're in the parking lot and we'll meet you at the in front lobby and then we'll go eat." Kurt waved as they drove off.


	9. Chapter 9

Kurt was surprised to see Mr. Smythe in the atrium when he went to meet his parents. Sebastian arrived right after Kurt and Thad had. The six of them went to the cafeteria and ate together.

The students, parents and guests all moved to the auditorium for the headmaster's presentation. The clubs and teams had set up tables in the gym for all of the parents, new students, and perspective students to visit and get information about. The students took turns manning the booths throughout the morning. At noon, the orchestra performed two songs. Afterwards, the Warblers performed "Go the Distance" first, followed by "Uptown Girl". Thad and Richard sat on stools on opposite sides of the stage while everyone else danced.

There was an outdoor picnic served family style at tables set up in the courtyard. The returning players from the lacrosse team scrimmaged for the attendees to watch. After the mini-matches, the soccer field was set up with field day activities for everyone to participate in. Thad and Kurt didn't actually participate, but they had fun watching some of their friends do potato sack races and other activities, but the funniest thing of the whole day was watching Burt and Mr. Smythe attempt the potato sack race during the parents-only competition.

The outdoor activities ended and everyone headed back into the building for the afternoon. The classroom wing was open and the teachers were present in their rooms with the books for the courses that were taught at the school. Everyone was allowed to wander through the classrooms and talk to the teachers about the school and the curriculum. The parents of current students could make appointments for parent-teacher conferences at a later date, if they wanted.

The final event for the day was the boys soccer match. Burt and Carole needed to head back to Lima and didn't stay for the game. Kurt and Thad said their goodbyes and went back to their dorm room. Sebastian was unlocking his door as they got close to their room. He didn't seem to notice them and they went in their room without giving it any thought.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

About a half hour later, Sebastian knocked on their door. Kurt opened it.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." Kurt closed the door behind him.

Sebastian took his shoes off and sat on the unused bed and leaned back against the wall.

"You look troubled. Is something wrong?" Kurt asked.

"I'm not sure. I feel like my world's being turned on end."

Kurt and Thad gave him time to collect his thoughts without interrupting.

"My dad is being really weird. Like nice weird - saying things I always wished he would say, but he's a politician and a lawyer and I never know what to think of what he says. Is he saying things so that other people might overhear him and think a particular way about him, even though he's speaking quietly or we are alone? Has he actually changed how he thinks and feels about things? I just don't know what to think."

"We were going to order a pizza. If you want to share with us, we'll order a larger one." Thad offered.

"Um, sure."

"Great."

Kurt climbed onto the bed and sat next to Sebastian. Thad ordered the pizza.

"So, you're dad's being nice and it's weirding you out," Kurt stated.

"Yeah. Like he's never been happy about me being gay. I mean he's never said anything horrible or called me derogatory names. He's not mean to me."

"Okay, and now?"

"And now, it's like he's actually okay with it. I'll tell you, but it might make you feel weird too."

"Okay."

"He told me that after we were attacked and he saw how you cared for Thad that he changed his mind about a lot of preconceived ideas he had about gay men."

"Okay..."

"I guess the 'whole gay men just want sex and are manwhores' was his underlying idea on the issue. When he heard that you had to be sedated because they were trying to put Thad in a room alone and that you had cared for him on your own all summer, he began to think about what that meant about how he viewed gay men."

"Oh."

"He had been opposed to allowing gay couples to adopt children. He was on the fence about same-sex marriage thinking that it was just a way to two men to try to get health benefits and lower their taxes because he had never equated being gay with being monogamous."

"I see."

"I guess he also thought that a lot of the gay bashing was brought upon the victims themselves by behaving in outlandish, exhibitionistic ways. And when the three of us were attacked for absolutely no reason other than the fact that those four guys didn't like the fact that you were gay, he had to reconsider his previous beliefs. He spent time talking to your dad. He spent time talking to your stepmother, who was a wealth of information, according to him. He found out that other than dressing more fashionably than the average teenager, you didn't do anything to antagonize the people who bullied you."

Kurt nodded.

"He told me that he's going to vote for your dad. His house is in the 4th District."

"Interesting."

"Since he decided to be so forthright, I got up the nerve to ask him about him recalling me to the States. I asked him why he enrolled me as a junior."

"What did he say?" Thad asked.

"He said because that's what he thought I was. He said he asked my _maman_ what year I was in school and she said 'third', so he equated that to junior and enrolled me."

"What about the IB program?" Thad asked.

"He didn't know anything about it. My _maman_ sent him my grade reports, but he probably never bothered to look into anything other than seeing the names of the courses and the grades I got."

"So, he wasn't trying to sabotage your school career?" Kurt asked.

"He said he wasn't."

"Did you tell him about changing your courses and the fact that you are senior, not a junior?" Thad asked.

"I did. He was surprised, but said he was sorry that there was a misunderstanding and that he was glad that I got it straightened out and that I'll be able to finish the program I had started."

"I can see why this has been a confusing day for you," Kurt said.

"Extremely."

"Did he say why he basically demanded for you to come?"

"He said that he went to Dalton and that he wanted me to graduate from there too. And that he wanted us to have something in common, something that made me his son, not just my mother's son."

"Odd." Thad commented.

"And even more odd, he's fine with me going back to Paris for college."

"I think I'd feel like I woke up in some alternate parallel universe if I were you." Thad said.

"Exactly. It's very weird and completely disconcerting. I don't know how to feel."

"It's okay to feel confused." Kurt said. "You can just give it time. See if his actions match his words. If he's had a real change of heart, then his actions will follow. I can't see how his change of heart can help him politically. Republicans are not exactly known for their equal rights track record in recent decades. So, he's certainly not changing his stance on these issues to help his political career."

"I don't honestly know enough about the American political system to say anything on this topic."

"Maybe you should take the regular American Government course that most of the seniors take next semester, if you can fit it in your schedule. I know you plan to go back to France, but it still seems like a good idea to know more about this topic than you do."

"Maybe I'll just get a book about American government or something."

"That could work. A crash course so you have a better idea of how things work quickly. But like I said, there will be a primary in May. That's when someone could challenge your dad. The primary is a run off between all of the candidates in the same party to decide which one will move on to the actual election, which won't be until November 2012. The only reason there is a congressional election this fall is because the congressman who held the position died in August or September and his seat is vacant. The 2012 election will not be for congressional seats though. Those elections will be in 2014. If my dad is elected, he will serve out the rest of the term, and then he'll have to run again in 2014 if he wants to continue to serve in Congress."

Kurt and Thad explained a lot of things about the American political system and they talked for quite a while about it.

"I should find a short guide to all of this so I don't come across as completely ignorant at my dad's political events. I don't want to be an embarrassment to myself or to him."

"Maybe we can go to the bookstore tomorrow and I'll help you find something," Kurt offered.

"He just wants an excuse to go to the bookstore again," Thad teased.

"Hush," Kurt laughed. "I've been good and I only actually get books from the library. Going to the bookstore is like window shopping."

"Oh, now I have useful information. You can be bribed by the offer of a new book."

"Now, see what you've done, Thad?" Kurt laughed. "You've given away my weakness."

"The pizza's here," Thad said when his phone started to ring.

Kurt got up and went down the hall and out the front entrance to get it. He tipped the driver, who wasn't Sam, but the whole thing made him think of him. He took the pizza back to their room.

They ate the pizza and talked more. They made arrangements to go to the bookstore the next day, much to Kurt's delight.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A week later, all six of the Warblers that were 18 decided to go check out one of the 18+ clubs in Columbus. It wasn't strictly a gay club, but it was LGBT friendly. None of them used fake IDs and all wore the under 21 bracelets they were given.

Thad had been cleared to walk around using his crutch again the beginning of the week, so they left his wheelchair in the back of the Navigator.

When they got inside, they found a large booth to use as their base for the evening. Thad was going to be the one manning the table most of the evening since he couldn't dance. But he was excited just to get out of the dorm for a while and do something different.

Kurt sat with him a lot of the time, but he did get up occasionally to dance with Jeff or Sebastian, who both managed to keep other guys from manhandling Kurt, much to Thad's gratitude. He didn't mind Kurt dancing with their friends, but he didn't want strangers putting their hands all over Kurt, especially knowing how much Kurt hated it.

A couple of the guys in the group came back to the table to rest for a while. Thad got up and went to order another drink. There was quite a wait, but he was feeling fine and his leg wasn't bothering him at all, so he just waited his turn.

He got back to the table and Sebastian and Jeff were dancing nearby, but he didn't see Kurt. He asked Richard where Kurt was.

"He was sitting with us for a few minutes, but he said he had to go to the restroom and got up."

Thad got up as fast as he could and grabbed Sebastian off the dance floor and drug him toward the restrooms.

"What's up? Why are you dragging me by my shirtsleeve?"

"They let Kurt go to the restroom alone."

Sebastian dashed ahead. Thad heard a scream and a crunch and a thud and then someone came running out of the restroom. By the time Thad got there, Sebastian was holding Kurt in his arms rocking him.

"Call Richard, Jeff, any of them. I need someone to help me carry him out of here."

Thad got through to Jeff who came straight to the restroom and banged the door open and helped Sebastian get Kurt up off the floor. They got some paper towels went and wiped Kurt's face and pushed his arm into the sink and rinsed it with water. Jeff wrapped it in paper towels. Jeff was stronger than Sebastian and picked Kurt up and carried him bridal style out of the restroom and straight out to the Navigator. Thad was too slow to keep up, but Sebastian rounded up everyone else and they all met at the Navigator.

"What's going on?" Richard asked. "What's the rush? I thought we were staying until 11:00 since we're going to Sebastian's instead of back to Dalton."

"Just move," Sebastian said.

Thad stuck his hands in Kurt's pockets to get the keys. Sebastian grabbed them and ordered everyone into the Navigator.

"Stop asking questions and just GET IN NOW!" Sebastian yelled.

That got everyone to get in quickly. Richard got in the front seat because he was so tall. Nick climbed over into the third row, not waiting for the second row seat to be put down to get back there. Thad got in behind Richard. Jeff stuffed Kurt into the middle of the second row and climbed in next to him.

Sebastian barked out, "Someone pull up Dublin Methodist on their phone and tell me how to get there NOW."

Richard got the directions and navigated them to the emergency room. Jeff got out immediately and pulled Kurt back out of the backseat and carried him into the emergency room. The paper towels were soaked through at that point and he was put into a triage room immediately to be evaluated. Thad gave the intake nurse all of Kurt's information. He got up and removed Kurt's wallet and let her copy his insurance card.

"What happened to Mr. ..."

"Hummel."

"Mr. Hummel?"

"He was attacked in the restroom of a club in Columbus."

"Did you call the police?"

"No, we brought him here."

"Do you want to file a police report?"

A distinct "NO!" was heard from the hospital bed.

"There's your answer," Thad said.

"Alright then."

A nurse came in to look at Kurt. "He's going to need stitches."

Kurt was moved to another room. Thad went with him. Everyone else opted to wait in the Navigator rather than sit in the waiting room.

Two hours later, Kurt was wheeled out of the Emergency Room by a nurse. Sebastian jumped out and opened the driver's side rear door for Kurt to get in. Thad got in the rear passenger side. "Let's go," Kurt said as soon as both back doors were closed.

"You still want to go to my dad's?"

"Yes," Kurt answered.

"Alright then." He gave Richard the address and he directed Sebastian all the way there.

When they got there, Sebastian parked at the end of the front sidewalk, blocking the driveway, but he didn't care. The guys grabbed Kurt and Thad's stuff, and Sebastian put Kurt into Thad's wheelchair and pushed him up the sidewalk and into the house. Thad used his crutch and made his way slowly up to the house following the others.

They were greeted by Mr. Smythe. "You boys are significantly later than I had anticipated."

"I'll explain in a minute, Dad. We need to get Kurt to a bed." Jeff picked Kurt up and followed Sebastian up the stairs. Sebastian led Jeff to his room and had him put Kurt in the middle of his king sized bed. Jeff took Kurt's shoes off and they left a single small lamp on and went back downstairs.

"What's wrong with Kurt?" his dad asked him.

"He was attacked at the club we went to, in the restroom."

"Do you know who it was?"

"No, but I'm pretty sure that he does." Sebastian replied.

"He refused to allow the hospital to call the police," Thad interjected.

"Okay, let's sit down. Tell me what happened."

"I went to get a drink. Richard, Kurt, and Nick were still sitting at the table. Jeff and Sebastian were dancing. The line was long. I was in line for about 10 minutes. Kurt left to use the restroom and Richard and Nick let him go by himself. I'm not sure how long after I left it was before Kurt went to the bathroom."

Richard spoke up, "He left right after you did."

"I came back to the table and Kurt wasn't there. I asked where he was since I didn't see him on the dance floor with Jeff and Sebastian. They told me where he had gone. I grabbed Sebastian, and we went to the restroom. He beat me there because he took off nearly running. When I got there I heard screaming and shouting and someone came running out of the bathroom."

"Sebastian, what was going on in the bathroom?"

"Some guy had Kurt pinned to the floor and was cutting his arm with a box knife or an exacto knife or something. Kurt was screaming. I punched him and kicked him and he took off out of the bathroom. Kurt had been punched and kicked obviously. Thad came in and called Jeff. Jeff and I cleaned him up a little and wrapped his arm in paper towels. Jeff carried him out to the Navigator and I drove him to the Dublin Methodist Emergency Room."

Thad spoke again. "He has stitches in his arm and a mild concussion. They x-rayed his arm and his ribs and notified the doctor that I've been seeing. He'll call in the morning and let Kurt know if he needs his arm recast or surgery or anything."

Mr. Smythe asked, "So, you think Kurt knows who did this, but he was unwilling to press charges?"

"Definitely. He was adamant at the hospital that the police not be called."

"I see. Did he call his parents?"

"No."

"Well, it's really late boys. Go on upstairs and get some sleep. We'll deal with the rest in the morning."

Thad left his chair in the front room and asked Richard to carry him up the stairs since Jeff had already carried Kurt up earlier. Once they were upstairs, Sebastian showed the other three to a guest room with two queen-sized beds. He led Thad to his own room.

"I know Kurt usually helps you. Is there anything I can do?"

"Um, just turn around so I can get my pants off and my pajama pants on? I'll just sleep with the brace on. That way if I need to get out of bed during the night, I'll be able to walk on my own."

"Sure. Just let me grab some pajamas and I'll go change in the bathroom while you change out here."

Sebastian came out of the bathroom slowly and asked, "All clear?"

"Yeah, you're fine." They switched places so Thad could use the bathroom. When he came back out, he asked, "Will you help me get him up? He will hate it if we let him sleep in those clothes that have been on the floor of a public restroom."

Sebastian laughed, but knew how right Thad was.

"Kurt," Thad said as he nudged Kurt gently. "You need to wake up and take a shower and take some pain medicine."

Kurt opened his eyes. "Oh, God my head hurts. And my ribs."

"I'll get you some medicine," Sebastian said. He went and got some ibuprofen and helped Kurt sit up and take it.

"You need to go shower. Can you do it by yourself?"

"Yeah. I need to get these disgusting clothes off." Sebastian brought their bag to Thad and let him get Kurt's stuff out. While Thad was rummaging, Sebastian managed to get Kurt out of the bed.

Kurt took the pajamas from Thad and went in the bathroom. A few minutes later, they could hear the water running.

"Take this comforter off. He won't want to sleep with it since he was laying on it in those clothes."

"Does any of this ever drive you crazy?" Sebastian asked.

"The specific way he does everything and his OCD tendencies?"

"Yeah."

"Not really. He's so organized and he does all of it sort of subconsciously. I've never had the nerve to ask, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it wasn't learned, like taught to him by his mother. If I mess up his organization, he just fixes it back. He never gets bent out of shape about it. He has reasons for the way he does things that actually make sense. And so little of his life was controllable, that maybe her being extra organized just morphed into him keeping his personal life completely predictable. Like school sucked because he got slushied three times in the same day after a morning dumpster toss, but when he got home, his favorite face cream was waiting right where it belonged and it made him feel better?"

"So, if you put his DVDs back in the wrong place, he doesn't melt down or get angry?"

"Nope. When he notices, he just moves it to its rightful spot and goes on with whatever he was doing."

"For him it just seems to be this source of comfort. It's not a big deal to me. We all do things for the people we like and love. I mean if you knew I hated something, like let's say I hated root beer, you wouldn't hand me one to drink. If you knew I loved root beer, you might look through a whole cooler of drinks just to find the root beer, even if it made your hands get icy cold."

"I get it. And you're right. I put his DVDs back the way he likes them when I borrow one. It's not that big of a deal."

The water shut off and a few minutes later Kurt came out of the bathroom. He got in the bed and Sebastian covered him with the sheet since they had taken the comforter off and put it out in the hall to be washed.

"Can you get us a couple of blankets?" Thad asked. "We need more than just the sheet."

"Sure." Sebastian left and came back with two blankets. "Lie down and I'll cover the two of you up and then I'll go around and sleep on the other side."

Sebastian turned of the lamp when he got in bed, but he had left the bathroom light on with the door partially ajar so that the room wasn't completely dark when he came out of the bathroom from getting the blankets out of the linen closet.

They all lay in the bed, Kurt in the middle. Within a few minutes, Kurt was sound asleep.

"God, I hate people sometimes," Sebastian whispered. "He's actually a really nice person and people hate him and hurt him."

"You have no idea how many times I've considered buying two planes tickets and just taking him to Florida to live in our condo and finishing school online or something. I know it's an illogical idea since I have no idea how to make it work, but the idea still pops into my mind."

"I can understand that. I've only known him for, what, two months and I feel like buying a plane ticket and sending him to live with my _maman_ in Paris. She has my empty bedroom he could live in. He speaks French fluently. He could just go to school where I went to school."

"That's a great idea. Better than mine even. None of the people who hate him would have the money to fly to Paris and bother him there."

"It's probably just as impossible as your idea, but it sounds nice."

"Let's get some sleep. He's going to wake up again at some point and we need to be here for him."

"One last question, did you see what was on his arm? It looked like words, but his arm was bleeding too badly to take the time to try to figure it out. We had to get pressure on it."

"Nope. He wouldn't let me see."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt woke up about 6:00 in the morning. He moved a bit and moaned. Thad and Sebastian both woke up.

"What can we do to help?" Sebastian asked quickly.

"I need to go to the bathroom."

Sebastian sat up quickly and helped Kurt sit up and move to the edge of the bed. "Just put your arm around my shoulders or around my waist, whatever helps."

Kurt gripped his shirt and Sebastian walked him over to the bathroom and waited for him to come back out.

"Do you want to go back to bed?"

"I need something for the pain. Ibuprofen."

"He helped Kurt to his desk chair."

Sebastian was back quickly with the bottle of ibuprofen and a glass of water. He opened the bottle and offered it to Kurt, who took two out and handed it back. He took the water and swallowed them. He gave the empty glass back to Sebastian.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He put the empty glass and bottle of pills on the bathroom sink again. "Let me help you back to the bed."

Once Kurt was lying back down as comfortably as possible, he started to talk. "I want to talk to everyone as soon as they're awake."

"We can do that," Thad said gently. He rolled onto his side and gently kissed Kurt's temple. "Do you want to try to go back to sleep?"

"I don't think I can, but I'll just lie here until everyone is awake. You two can go back to sleep if you want."

"I'm not really sleepy now," Sebastian said. "How about I play some music?"

"Is my phone somewhere?"

"On the table next to me," Thad said.

Sebastian hopped up to grab it and held it so that Kurt could put in his passcode. He clicked on a playlist in his music. Sebastian put it in the dock on his side of the bed so it would charge while it played. The three of them just lay there in silence until a knock was heard on the door about two hours later.

"Come in," Sebastian said.

Nick and Jeff stepped inside.

"Is Richard awake yet?" Kurt asked.

"No, but we can go get him."

"Please do," Kurt said.

A few minutes later, all three of them were back. Sebastian sat up and helped Kurt up and put a pillow behind his back. Thad managed to get one behind his back as well. Sebastian pointed to the bed for the other three to sit down on the end of the bed.

Once everyone was seated, Kurt asked. "Did any of you post on Facebook or any other social media where we were going last night?"

Richard said, "I hardly post anything. I didn't."

Jeff looked concerned. "I posted it to my Facebook page, why?"

"Let me see."

Jeff went back to the other room and brought his phone back with him. He opened Facebook and showed the post to Kurt. Jeff's post had tagged the club and tagged Nick, Richard, Sebastian, Thad, and Kurt. Thad and Kurt's names didn't appear as links because Thad had changed his settings to not allow people to tag him without approval and Kurt had deactivated his account.

Kurt checked to see who had liked Jeff's post. He only saw other Dalton students until he saw Blaine's name. Kurt clicked on Blaine's name and looked through his friends list.

"I need all of you to never mention me on social media, ever. And it would be a good idea if you didn't post where you were going ahead of time. It's just a bad idea. It's fine to post things after the fact."

"I never thought about it. I was just excited," Jeff said.

"I know. I'm not angry with you. Just please never mention me or Thad or Sebastian on social media."

"There's something going on," Nick said.

"You're right, but no one else is going to know. The three of you know nothing and it's going to stay that way because it's better that way."

"You're not making a lot of sense," Richard said.

"I'm sorry, but that's the way it's got to be."

The other three just nodded.

"Let's eat. The four of you can still go swimming. Thad and I will watch or stay inside or something. We'll still go to the movies. You didn't post anything else about our plans, did you?"

"No, just the club," Jeff answered.

"Good. So, the rest of our plans for the day stay the same. Swimming, lunch out and then to the movies. Let's go to the closest place rather than going back to Westerville to the theater."

"Alright," Thad said. "I'll look for a place and get the show times. Why don't you four go down and bring something up for breakfast?"

The others left like Thad suggested and came back about 10 minutes later with cartons of yogurt and some cereal bars.

"Sorry, Kurt's the best cook and he's up here. I figured we'd just eat this stuff and have a nice lunch later," Sebastian said. "The housekeeper only works weekdays."

"That's fine."

They all ate quickly and quietly. Thad told them the movie time. The other four changed into their swim trunks.

"Thad and I are going to stay up here and bathe. It will take a long time given all of our restrictions. But we can do it on our own. Just knock when you come back up after swimming."

"Okay," Sebastian said. "Are you sure you don't need help?"

"You have a large bath tub in there. We'll be fine. We'll just need towels, probably several."

"Got it." Sebastian grabbed several towels and some wash cloths and put them on the bathroom sink for them.

"Thanks. We'll see you in a little bit."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad and Kurt made their way into the bathroom. It took them quite a while, but they managed to get in the empty tub and then fill it full enough that Kurt could help Thad bathe. Kurt pulled the spray hose down and rinsed them off after they drained the water. He managed to keep the area of his arm that was bandaged dry. They dried off and Kurt got Thad's brace back on and they made it back into Sebastian's room to get dressed. They opted to go with just leaving their hair to dry naturally. They were just too tired to care.

"Are you sure your ribs aren't cracked? Those are nasty bruises."

"They x-rayed me and said that they weren't."

"Okay. Are you going to tell me what you figured out from Jeff's phone?"

"You won't like it."

"I figured I wouldn't."

"Blaine is on Jeff's friends list. Blaine clicked 'Like' on the post and then he commented on it. Both Finn and another person on the football team are friends with Blaine. My assumption is that he has his settings so that his friends can see what he posts on other people's timelines."

"So, someone saw Blaine's comment and saw where you were going to be. The person who attacked you, you know him, don't you?"

"Yes."

"But you aren't going to say anything?"

"Right. I value my life and yours. No one will ever know who it was."

"What happened before Sebastian and I got into the restroom?"

"The person followed me in and when I saw him in the reflection, he put his hand over my mouth and grabbed me and pulled me into the handicapped stall. He shoved me into the wall. That's how I probably got the concussion. I tried to fight back. He punched me in the gut. I slid down the wall. He kicked me and pinned me to the floor. He said I wouldn't be playing in Friday's game and that he had a message for me and that I would never forget it and he started to carve it into my arm. Sebastian kicked the door in and punched and kicked my attacker and he decided to run. You came in, called Jeff, they picked me up, cleaned me up a bit and you know the rest."

"What was the message?"

Kurt shook his head. "I want to stop at a pharmacy or Target either on the way to the movie or before we leave this area. I'm going to buy several boxes of large rectangular bandages to cover the area. And some ointment and scar cream."

"Okay. You know whatever it is won't change how I feel about you, right?"

"I know. But I don't want anyone to see it. I'll need to get a long sleeved tight fitting athletic shirt. So, it's Target we need to go to. That way I can buy everything in one stop."

"No problem."

Kurt grabbed his phone out of the dock and put it in his pocket. He packed up his and Thad's pajamas and Thad's clothes and put them in his bag. He was going to get a separate disposable bag to put the clothes in that he had been wearing in the club, which he had left on the bathroom floor. Not much later, everyone came back up from swimming. They showered and dressed.

Kurt told them about his need to stop somewhere for supplies.

"You know they make athletic sleeves?" Sebastian asked.

"What are athletic sleeves?"

Sebastian pulled up a photo on his phone.

"Oh, those would be perfect. Where can we buy some?"

"A sporting goods store."

"Then I want to go to a sporting goods store and Target or a pharmacy on the way to the movies."

"Not a problem. We can head out now."

"I need a bag to put the clothes from the club in, please."

Sebastian pulled out a small trash bag from under his bathroom sink and gave it to Kurt. Sebastian grabbed Kurt's bag and put the bagged clothes into and carried Kurt's bag along with his own. Jeff grabbed Thad's bag. They all walked to the stairs. Richard offered to carry Thad down.

They went to get the items that Kurt needed, and then out to lunch. While they were at lunch, Kurt got a call from the hospital telling him that he needed to come in and have his arm recast. He asked if he could come in about two hours later and it was arranged.

They went to see _Real Steel_ , which had just opened two days before. Everyone enjoyed the movie. They headed back to the hospital and then on to Dalton afterwards.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt emailed Coach Moreland and arranged to meet him before first period the next morning. Sebastian, Thad and Kurt ate breakfast early. Sebastian took Thad to his first period class when the warning bell rang. Kurt had already gone to meet the coach.

Kurt knocked on the open door.

"Please come in."

"I regret to inform you that I can't play in Friday night's game. I was injured Saturday evening and sustained a mild concussion. I have stitches in my arm and bruised ribs. I should be able to play by next Friday night. I'm sorry. I have a doctor's statement." He handed it to the coach.

"I see that you have a larger cast on your left arm." Kurt nodded.

"You know who your attacker was, don't you?"

Kurt didn't answer.

"I know you don't trust me anymore. I am legally obligated to report any potential at-risk behavior."

"I understand, sir. I can't be at the game. I'm sorry. I hope this isn't breaking my scholarship contract somehow. If it is, I'm really sorry, but I don't have a choice."

"Sending you back to the guidance counselor is my only option, Kurt. You are not behaving like yourself. Please follow me."

Coach Moreland walked with Kurt to Miss Webber's office. The coach waited with him until she was available to talk to him.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"You were injured again."

"Yes, ma'am."

"How?"

Kurt didn't answer.

"You aren't going to answer?"

"No, Miss Webber."

"Was it someone at this school?"

"No."

"Alright, then. There is nothing else I can do. You know that I am available should you decide that you want to talk to someone about what's going on."

"Yes, ma'am."

She gave him a pass to give to his second period teacher.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt became very withdrawn over the next few days, only speaking to Thad when Thad spoke to him first. He cancelled both of Thad's therapy sessions that week. He hadn't yet figured out how to get Thad to his sessions.

He focused on his homework and on perfecting his parts for Sectionals. Thad became really worried about Kurt. Kurt was as gentle and kind as he always had been, but he had nearly completely closed off his thoughts and feelings. Kurt skipped meals, claiming to not be hungry, and got Sebastian to take Thad to the cafeteria.

Friday morning, Kurt refused to open the curtains to their room and actually asked everyone else on the first floor to leave theirs closed all day as well. Given how withdrawn Kurt had become, they complied without asking why.

As soon as the Warblers finished rehearsing, Kurt grabbed Thad's chair and got him to leave immediately. He took them directly to their room. He texted Sebastian asking him to bring a meal from the cafeteria for Thad.

He didn't answer their door until Sebastian replied to his text verifying who he was. Sebastian was trying to play along without asking questions, but it had gotten harder as the week went on. He saw Thad wilting under the strain of seeing Kurt fall apart. The two best friends he had made were imploding right before his eyes and he didn't know what to do about it.

He came in the door and Kurt closed it quickly and locked it behind him.

"Can I spend the night with you guys tonight?" Sebastian asked.

"Um, okay," Kurt answered.

"I'll be right back with my stuff." Sebastian handed Kurt the food he brought and left the room. Kurt relocked the door. Sebastian was back about 10 minutes later with a bag of stuff. Kurt let him back in after he answered a text again.

Sebastian asked nothing. He did schoolwork in the extra bed and eventually showered and changed into pajamas and went to sleep when he ran out of stuff to do.

Thad ate. He and Kurt did their schoolwork as well. Everyone listened to their own music with ear buds. They were in the same room, but isolated from each other.

Thad and Kurt showered and got in bed, but Kurt didn't sleep. Thad held his hand, since it was the only thing he could do. The game hadn't ended by the time they were in bed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt's phone rang and startled everyone.

"Hello?"

"Where are you? I didn't see you on the field anywhere tonight. We came to watch you and Finn both play. But you weren't kicking."

"No, dad. I wasn't. I couldn't play tonight. I'm in my room in bed."

"We wanted to take you and Finn out after the game."

"I'm sorry, Dad. I can't go."

"What's going on?"

"I told you. I couldn't play tonight."

"Yeah. I got that part, but you're not answering the question."

"Well, that's the only answer that I have right now. I'm sorry I can't go out with you."

"Well, me too, kiddo. I was looking forward to seeing you tonight."

"Who won?"

"Dalton. 42-12. McKinley's team is terrible this year, well it has been since those four landed themselves in jail. Whoever replaced you tonight didn't kick a single field goal. Seven touchdowns, no field goals. Rumor was that there were scouts here tonight. Finn was hoping that McKinley would do well even if they didn't win. Dalton's undefeated record this year is getting college scouts interested according to Finn."

"I see."

"I'm going to send Finn back with the team. Carole and I are going to get a room somewhere. I want to see you in the morning."

"You don't need to do that. Just go on back home tonight. There's no need to waste money on a hotel room."

"I didn't drive all the way over here to leave without seeing you."

"Sometimes things don't work out the way we want them to. I can't see you tomorrow morning. I'll call you when I'm better. We'll work something out."

"They have a nurse in there, right?"

"Yes. We have a nurse."

"Alright then. I hope you feel better."

"Thanks."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"He doesn't know, does he?" Thad asked.

"No, and he won't."

"Okay."

"I'm sorry. I just can't say anything else. I know I've been a bad friend and an even worse boyfriend this week. I'm sorry to both of you."

Sebastian responded, "I'm not mad at you at all. You aren't being a bad friend. Not at all. Something is wrong. That is obvious. You won't or can't tell us. That doesn't mean that we quit wanting to be your friend. We're just worried about you."

Suddenly glass was flying everywhere and something heavy landed on the floor inside the room. More glass shattering and screaming could be heard from next door. Tires squealing, then a thud. Vehicle doors slamming. Yelling. Sirens in the distance. More yelling. More screaming.

A voice from outside talking in a loud, stern voice. A megaphone. "All residents stay inside your rooms. Do not touch anything that has been thrown through a window. Stay away from the windows."

The sirens were getting closer. Flashing lights. The sirens stopped. The flashing lights remained.

Kurt started to get up. Thad put his arm over him. "Do what they said. Stay here. Don't go over to the window."

"I can't stand not knowing."

"Stay, please."

Kurt stayed in the bed, but he sat up. Thad and Sebastian sat up as well. They leaned back against the headboards. Kurt turned the light on his desk on.

"Sebastian, are you hurt?"

"No, but I think there's glass on the bed. I'm going to get trouble for being in here, aren't I?"

"I don't think so. You're on your floor. You're in a dorm room. Richard hasn't even done the curfew check tonight."

"Okay."

More indistinct yelling could be heard from outside. A few minutes later, their dorm room was opened by the night nurse, who had a police officer and an EMT with her.

"Is anyone in this room injured from the broken window?"

"No." they all answered

"Good," she said. "Stay where you are until we check the other rooms and come back to talk to you. I'm leaving the door open. Stay put."

The three of them walked down the hall and inquired in each room. When they got to Nick and Jeff's room and opened it, crying could be heard.

Kurt spoke quietly. "Either Nick or Jeff is hurt. I can hear Jeff crying."

A few minutes later, he heard people walking in the hall. He called out, "Nurse Taylor!"

She stopped and looked in. "Yes, Kurt?"

"Who's hurt?"

"Jeff. He'll be okay. He's more scared than injured. The brick hit him in the arm. He was sitting on the floor. He has a few cuts and scrapes too. The EMT is taking him for an x-ray to make sure his arm isn't fractured."

"Can we get up yet?"

"No. Stay where you are. The cleaning staff and the maintenance staff have been called in. The police will be in to collect evidence. Once the glass has been completely cleaned up, you can move to the lounge or anywhere on this floor. The maintenance crew will need you out of the way to temporarily fix the windows for the night. A window company will be brought in tomorrow. Don't leave this floor. I have to go tell Richard and Trent the same thing. It shouldn't be long."

"Please come back once you tell them, okay?"

"Alright, Kurt."

He could hear her repeating what she had said. She came back afterwards.

"What did you need?" She stood right in the doorway.

"What happened outside?"

"I can't answer that. I wasn't there."

"I want to know. I want to talk to someone who knows what happened outside. I'm 90% certain that someone was run over."

"You're recognition of sound is excellent. That's all I can say. You'll have to try to get information out of someone else. I need to remain employed."

"Yes, ma'am. I understand. I'm officially requesting that you find someone to come talk to me who has the ability to answer my questions."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

She walked away.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Seemingly hours later, Nurse Taylor returned with a uniformed officer with a woman in regular clothing.

"I'm Officer Martin with the Westerville police. This is Officer Hanley. She's here to collect evidence. Please stay where you are."

Officer Hanley had a camera and began to photograph the entire room. She had some type of device she used that looked like it measured the room size using a laser beam. She measured the distance of the location of the brick from the walls and the doors. She drew a diagram of the placement of the furniture in the room. Once she had finished that, she used gloves and placed the brick into a paper sack and wrote something on the outside of the sack.

Once she had picked the brick up, Kurt spoke. "Did someone get hit outside? I'm certain that I heard a person get hit by a vehicle."

"Yes. One of the school's security guards was hit by the truck driven by the young men responsible for these acts of vandalism and criminal mischief."

"Is he okay?"

"He's alive and was conscious when he was transported to the hospital."

"Thank you for answering me."

"Are you Kurt Hummel?" the other officer asked.

"Yes."

"I'll need to speak with you at some point."

"I have nothing to say."

"That may very well be, but it is my job to speak with you."

Kurt nodded.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Why are you planning to refuse to speak to the police officer? You know he can probably charge you with obstruction of justice or something," Sebastian said.

"Doesn't matter," Kurt replied.

"You'll risk going to jail?" Sebastian asked.

"If I have to."

"What is going on?" Thad asked.

"I can't say anything. Please stop asking."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Officer Martin returned as soon as the glass had been cleaned up in their room. Kurt was escorted to the empty door room across the hall.

"Please have a seat."

Kurt sat.

"This wasn't a case of simple vandalism, was it?"

Kurt did not answer.

"I don't see how withholding evidence will be helpful."

Kurt said nothing.

"I'll charge you with obstruction of justice."

"I have a right to an attorney. I have the right to say nothing."

"Fine. I will call your attorney. Name?"

"Arthur Smythe."

"You expect me to call the State's Attorney in the middle of the night?"

Kurt pulled out his phone and pressed Mr. Smythe's cell phone number and put it on speaker.

"Kurt, why are you calling in the middle of the night? Are you hurt? Is Sebastian hurt?"

"No. We aren't hurt, but Officer Martin wants to charge me with obstruction because I won't answer his questions. There has been an incident at the school tonight."

"I'm 30 minutes away."

"I know, sir."

"I'll be there in 45 minutes. Say nothing."

"Yes, sir."

Kurt disconnected the call.

"Fine. I'll be back in an hour." Officer Martin got up and left Kurt sitting in the room alone.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When Mr. Smythe arrived he was led to the room that Kurt had been sitting in.

"Kurt."

"Mr. Smythe."

Officer Martin brought in a third chair and sat down.

"I need to know what you know about tonight's incident."

"I was in my room and a brick came flying through the window."

"That's not what I am referring to."

"Then ask specific questions if you want specific answers. Not that I'll answer, but you're free to ask."

"Don't be a smart aleck with me, kid."

"Don't speak disrespectfully to my adult client."

"There is reason to believe that this was not an act of vandalism, but of retaliation. A personal vendetta against Mr. Hummel. Would you care to respond to this statement?"

"No. I have nothing to say."

Mr. Smythe asked, "What charges are being brought against the criminals that were caught in the act that are sitting in those patrol cars outside? Criminal mischief? Criminal damage? Vandalism?"

"Yes."

"How will my client answering your questions about him being the alleged target change the way the school is going to prosecute those individuals that you have already arrested?"

The officer didn't say anything.

"Since my client is uninjured, there is nothing for him to file charges against anyone for. The property that was destroyed or damaged doesn't belong to him. The destroyed window, damaged curtains, potentially damaged floor, possibly damaged bed linens – all of those things belong to the school, not my client."

"His answer could provide motive."

"There is no need for motive when all of the suspects were seen committing the crime and have all been arrested. Their guilt can be proven with no need for motive. My client has nothing to say and unless you intend to file charges against him, he and I will be leaving. Get up, Kurt."

Kurt left and led Mr. Smythe to the lounge area where Thad, Sebastian, Trent, and Richard were sitting.

"Hey, Dad. They aren't going to take Kurt, are they?"

"No. He hasn't done anything wrong."

Sebastian stood. "You've met Richard. This is Trent. They live across the hall from me, next to Kurt and Thad."

"Nice to meet you, Trent." He reached out and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you, sir," he said.

"The EMT took Jeff to the hospital. Nick was given permission to leave and follow the ambulance in his car to bring him back after he's had the x-ray," Richard said.

"I see."

"Sebastian, please open your room, I'd like to talk to Kurt in private."

"Yes, Dad."

The rest of them made themselves as comfortable in the lounge and waited to be allowed back into their rooms. About an hour later, they were given permission to go back to their rooms.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Kurt, please tell me what's going on. Everything I said to the officer is true. They do not need your information to go through with prosecuting those responsible for tonight's incident, but I would appreciate it if you would tell me what's going on."

"I can't."

"Kurt, no one can force me to reveal any information that you give me."

"I'm aware of that."

"Then why won't you tell me?"

Kurt remained silent.

"Alright, I'm going to tell you what I know. The outside of this building has been spray painted with the words 'Die Fags. Burn in Hell'. To your knowledge are Trent, Richard, Nick, or Jeff gay?"

"No. I have never asked any of them their sexual orientation, nor have any of them every voluntarily revealed it to me."

"So, on this floor, you, Thad and Sebastian are the only openly gay students?"

"Yes. And I can't answer for Sebastian as far as who else he may or may not have told. I have never said anything about his sexual orientation to anyone. Thad and I know, but I do not know if other people know. Thad and I are very well aware of the fact that many boys who attend this school could be disowned and lose everything if they came out. This school does not allow bullying of any sort, but that does not mean that the families of the students who attend this school would be supportive of their own children, should it turn out that those children are gay."

"I understand."

"But I will also tell you that IF the perpetrators of this crime are other high school students, specifically ones from McKinley, the nickname for this school is 'Gay Hogwarts.'"

"I see. What's written on the building can be perceived as a death threat."

"That's nothing new," Kurt said sarcastically. "I should just transfer somewhere far away. Maybe I could go live in Thad's parents' condo in Florida and finish school there or move to Seattle where they're based and go to a school there."

"That seems pretty drastic."

"How many death threats does it take before it's reasonable to do something drastic?" Kurt asked. "I don't want the school damaged again. I don't want anyone else hurt because of me. Three people now have been hurt because of me. When is it okay for me to just give up and let them win?"

"Do you have any idea how the people involved tonight found out where your room was?"

"None. They didn't know exactly, obviously. They only knew that I was on the ground floor. So, my guess is that they didn't get the information from anyone who knows me really well. For one, I don't think anyone who knows me really well would have given out the information. So, I would have to guess that they got it from someone who knows my name and knows what floor I live on. I mean, heck they could have gotten it from my stepbrother somehow. He's not the brightest crayon in the box and he could have overheard my dad talking about me and Thad being in a ground floor room this year. There's any number of ways someone could have found out."

"I have the distinct feeling that you have a better idea of how they found out than you're letting on."

"I guess I don't see how telling will make a difference."

"How did your attacker in Columbus know you would be there?"

Kurt didn't answer.

"Kurt, I know you know who attacked you. It wasn't a random restroom attack."

"You think you know that I know."

"You're just being difficult."

"I can't answer you about who attacked me."

"Does he attend McKinley?"

"I can't answer that."

"How did he know you were in Columbus?"

"Facebook."

"You posted your whereabouts on Facebook?"

"I deactivated my Facebook account almost a year ago."

"So someone else posted your location on Facebook. Who?"

"Someone who didn't know I would be in danger from his actions. I didn't even know that I would be in danger from his actions. I never really considered that anyone would leave Lima to come after me. And they wouldn't have. They never did. I've been here since last November. More than ten months of absolutely no one giving a care that I was here. No one threatening me. No one threatening or hurting people I care about."

"Then you went to Lima."

"Then I went to Lima, got thrown in a dumpster and pressed charges. Now, people are willing to come after me. Like I said that morning you came in after they agreed to the pleas, I made a huge mistake. Now, I am paying for it, as are the people around me who had nothing to do with it. At what point does it become my fault when someone around me gets hurt? I understand that I did not throw a brick through Jeff and Nick's window. I know that I technically did not hurt Jeff. But if I weren't here, none of this would be happening. At what point does my refusing to leave become negligence on my part to protect people I care about? Will it be when one of them grabs Thad on the way to therapy and breaks his hand? Preventing him from pursuing the career of his choice? I cancelled both of his therapy sessions this week because I was too scared to leave campus and too scared to ask someone else to take him for fear of what might happen to yet another person in my life."

"Talk to the football coach about that. I wouldn't be surprised if the school doesn't have a contract with a physical therapist to come here to deal with injured athletes rather than taking them all to a clinic off campus."

"Thad isn't a student athlete."

"This isn't a usual case."

"I'll see."

"Back to your question, I'm not sure there's a definitive line that can be drawn that says a person is responsible for the outcome of another person's actions. There are no laws that say that a threatened, harassed individual is responsible for the actions of the person threatening him. Morally, I understand your dilemma. You believe that if you leave, people will stop doing things like what happened tonight?"

"No, I don't actually. At this point, I'm not sure that these people will stop until I kill myself or they do. I guess they might stop if they kill Thad or my dad or someone else important enough to me that I will suffer for the rest of my life because the person is gone."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Absolutely. Sebastian should stay away from me. Find a new friend. He's nice. He can make new friends. I'll tell him so when we're done talking to you. I should break up with Thad too. He doesn't deserve any of this. I need to just vanish. My dad can have a memorial service for me and then they'll leave everyone else alone."

"Kurt."

"I can't talk anymore tonight. I'm sorry. Unless there's something else you need from me legally, I need to go back to my room and try to sleep. I'll send Sebastian back here to his room. If they're already asleep in my room, I'll just come back in here and sleep in Sebastian's bed until they wake up. Thanks for coming all the way over here tonight. If you need to, just bill me whatever your normal rate is for this type of thing and I'll eventually pay you back. Once I get this cast off, I'll go back to work as a mechanic somewhere. That seems like my future anyway."

Mr. Smythe stood and left the room. Kurt took a few minutes to try to get himself together and went to the lounge to find it empty. He quietly tried to open his dorm door and found it locked. He went and lay down in Sebastian's bed and cried himself to sleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Less than an hour later, there was a light knock on the door. Kurt got up and went to the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Thad. Please come back to our room. I miss you."

"I tried earlier, but the door was locked," he said as he opened the door.

"I thought you'd knock when you were done with Sebastian's dad."

"I didn't want to wake you up."

"I wasn't asleep." Thad pushed the door shut behind him. He put his arms around Kurt's neck and kissed him. Kurt didn't respond. "Kurt?"

"I can't do this to you anymore. You can't be with me. If I leave, they'll leave everyone else alone."

"What do you mean?"

"I have to go. I have to leave Ohio. Go somewhere far away."

Thad started to cry. "You don't mean that. Say that you don't mean that."

"But I do."

"No," he wailed.

"Thad, listen. They hate me so much that they vandalized this building and broke three windows just to get at me - to make me understand that this isn't over. I don't want anyone else hurt. I love you so much. That's why I have to leave."

"No," he cried. "There has to be another way. Come to bed with me. Be with me. We'll talk more in the morning or at lunch or whatever. You're not leaving right this minute, so come to bed with me."

"Alright." Kurt took Thad's hand and they went down to their room and back inside.

"I'll see you guys later," Sebastian said. He went back to his own room when Kurt came in.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Get undressed." Thad said as he headed to the bathroom. He was sitting on the stool when Kurt came into the bathroom.

"We already had a shower tonight."

"I want another one."

Kurt got the rest of the way undressed and turned the water on in the shower. Thad had scooted the stool closer to the faucet and he was straddling it, leaving room for Kurt to sit on the stool with him. He sprayed them both down and washed Kurt's hair. He washed his face and rinsed it and placed gentle kisses all over his face. He turned the faucet off.

"I love you so much. Please don't think of leaving me."

Kurt let himself go. He let himself fall into Thad's arms and let him hold him. He cried until he ran out of tears. Kurt had to grab their towels since Thad couldn't get up. He wrapped them both in towels and sat back down on the bench. They dried and Thad got his brace back on. They walked back into their room. Kurt got clean pajamas out for them.

"Just put those on the edge of your desk in case we need them." Thad sat on the edge of the bed and took the brace back off. "Lay this on top of them." He moved himself carefully until he was lying on his back near the wall.

Kurt covered him up and lay down in the bed next to him.

"You are in need of a snuggle. We are going to snuggle until someone makes us get out of this bed." Thad turned on his side and got Kurt to maneuver until they were lying facing each other. "Come close enough that I can kiss you. Be careful, I know you're sore still."

"It's okay." He scooted closer. He ran his thumb down Thad's cheek. "All I want to do is be able to be with you. I love you." Kurt started with gentle soft kisses that progressed into passionate kissing before they fell asleep in each other's arms.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Late the next morning, there was a knock at their door. Kurt slipped his pajama pants on quickly and went to the door.

"Who it is?"

"It's Richard. The window replacement crew is here. They need us to get out of our rooms while they work on the windows."

"Okay. Give us at least 10 minutes to get dressed. Sorry we're slow. Casts and stitches and Thad's brace..."

"Got it. I'll tell them to get started in Nick and Jeff's room."

"Thanks."

Kurt got Thad's sweats out and tossed them onto the bed. He got his own football sweats out. He helped Thad get the pants up over his brace. He rebandaged his own arm in the bathroom. By then, Thad had come in to brush his teeth and comb his hair.

He leaned against the sink and motioned for Kurt to come closer. He kissed him passionately and resolutely said, "No more talk like last night. I am not giving you up. Got it?"

"Got it. I was so scared I couldn't think of any other way to protect you."

"Shh." Thad started kissing him again.

"We have to hurry up. The repairmen need in here." Kurt pulled away and went in their room and put his hoodie on. "Get in your chair so we can go eat whatever meal is being served. I don't even know what time it is." He grabbed for their phones and handed Thad's to him. "11:30. Well, we can go have lunch."

"I think I can walk all the way to the cafeteria. It's not that far."

"We could get written up for showing up for a meal dressed like this."

"After what happened last night, I can't think of a single staff member who would do it," Thad said.

"Let's go then." Kurt took Thad's left hand gently, managing to not bump his stitches against Thad's cast.


	10. Chapter 10

After lunch they went back to the dorm. Kurt led Thad past their room. "I need to tell Sebastian something."

Kurt knocked on Sebastian's door. He opened it looking pretty haggard.

"Can we come in?"

"Sure," he said as he stepped back.

Kurt let Thad walk in first. He headed toward Sebastian's desk chair. He lowered himself and released the knee joint on the brace so he could sit more comfortably. Kurt stepped just enough that Sebastian could close the door. Once it was closed, Kurt stepped closer to Sebastian and hugged him very gently and stepped back.

"What was that for?"

"For being an amazing friend. I'm sorry I kept everything from the two of you. I thought I could protect you, but it didn't work. Come sit down."

Kurt and Sebastian sat on Sebastian's bed. Kurt carefully slid his sweatshirt sleeve up and gently lifted the bandage on his arm.

Sebastian looked like he was going to be sick.

"Sorry." He moved to cover it quickly. "I should have asked if the sight of injuries makes you sick."

"It's not the injury that makes me sick, well I mean is not nice to look at, but it's what it says, well almost says."

"Yeah, you busted the door open in time to keep him from finishing it, but I know and you both know what it was meant to say."

They both nodded.

"Look, Thad already got the flipped out reaction I had last night - that I was going to leave Ohio and go somewhere far away. I was going to tell you the same thing, Sebastian, but Thad talked some sense into me last night."

"I'm not sure there was much talking involved," Thad laughed.

"Hush." Kurt tried to hide the embarrassed smile on his face. "Anyway, I kept what it said and who it was a secret because the person who did it said to keep it quiet and that I needed to not play in the football game last night to keep the people I cared about safe."

"Oh, Kurt," Thad said. "That's why you wouldn't talk to us all week."

"You believed that we'd be safe if you kept quiet and didn't play. You thought that by this morning, it would all be over with." Sebastian stated, but in a way that sounded more like a question.

"Yes. I didn't allow anyone to see what had been carved into my arm. I told no one who it was. I went to the coach on Monday and told him I couldn't play, even if it meant risking my scholarship. I didn't even tell my dad about it. And yet, last night, they attacked again. And this time someone else got hurt."

"Jeff's arm is just bruised. It's not fractured," Sebastian said.

"Good. That's a relief. I thought that a break or fracture could cause him to have to quit crew." Kurt put the bandage back on and pulled his sleeve down.

"So, that's how he's so strong. I didn't know he rowed," Sebastian said.

"Oh, yeah. He loves it."

"Cool."

"Yeah, he rows with a local team since the school doesn't have a team. We went out to the reservoir to watch a couple of times last spring. Maybe you can come with us this spring sometime if it doesn't conflict with lacrosse," Kurt said.

"That sounds like fun."

"It was," Kurt said.

Kurt's phone rang.

"Hey, Dad."

"Were you going to tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"That your school was vandalized by the McKinley football team?"

"Well, I couldn't tell you that because no one has officially told me who was responsible for the damages last night. I mean, I had a good idea, but since they were arrested and taken away without letting any of us see who was in the squad cars, there was no way for me to be certain."

"Stop beating around the bush. You were supposed to be safe at that school."

"I was until I was stupid enough to press charges against Azimio and his posse. How did you find out anyway?"

"Finn, Carole and I just came back from being called up to the school for a mandatory team meeting, parents invited."

"I see."

"Stop playing dumb and tell me what happened."

"Well, you probably know more than I do. What I know is that not long after you called last night, when I was already in bed, as I said. A brick was thrown through my dorm room window and the other two dorm room windows that face the front on the ground floor. We were instructed to stay exactly where we were. The police did whatever they did outside that we couldn't see. The school nurse let two police officers into our rooms to check on us. One collected physical evidence. One interviewed us. They collected the information and evidence. Jeff was injured. He was transported to the hospital. His arm was x-rayed and came back. He's just bruised up. The cleaning crew cleaned the glass out of our rooms and the maintenance staff boarded our windows for the night. A glass company was brought in late this morning, right before noon, and our windows are being replaced. They should be done soon, I think. Then we'll be let back into our own room. Thad and I are in Sebastian's room right now."

"Well, you know more about what happened inside the school."

"What do you know about what happened outside?"

"Well, as far as I know, three McKinley football team members were caught spray painting the building and throwing bricks through the ground floor windows in the dormitory building. There was a fourth person and he's being held on different charges because he hit one of the school's security officers."

"I forgot to mention that part. We could hear that - the security officer getting hit by a vehicle. The only thing I know is that we were told he was alive and conscious when he was transported to the hospital. I haven't seen anyone to ask about his condition yet today."

"Well, the driver is being charged with vehicular something-or-other, in additional aiding in the other criminal activities because he was providing the means to get away. From what I know, the others are being charged with intimidation, retaliation, and aggravated menacing in addition to the vandalism charges."

"Makes sense."

"Is that all you have to say?"

"What do you want me to say, Dad? It sucks to be gay?"

"Not what I meant, Kurt."

"Well, I don't know what you mean. I don't know what you want me to say or tell you that I haven't already told you."

"Tell me why you didn't play last night."

"I was attacked in Columbus last Saturday evening and needed stitches in my arm and had bruised ribs and a mild concussion preventing me from participating in football practice this past week and from playing in the game last night."

"What?"

"You asked. I told you what happened. There is nothing else to say."

"Who attacked you?"

"Doesn't matter."

"You're protecting your attacker. You were threatened."

"You're making assumptions, which I will not confirm or deny."

"The McKinley football team is forfeiting the rest of their season. They're down four more players, who are all sitting in a Westerville jail cell."

"People who commit crimes and get caught end up in jail. Who's left on the team? Besides Finn, Puck, Sam and Mike? I don't know who was arrested."

"I don't either, but I'm sure it will be public information soon, by Monday."

"With those additional charges you listed - at least now I know why I was being questioned last night."

"Tell me you had a lawyer with you."

"I did. I called Sebastian's dad. He came."

"Well, that's good, at least. He likes you."

"I'm glad someone does," Kurt said sarcastically.

"Hey."

"It's just the way I feel right now, Dad. Last night was really bad."

"I'm not pleased that you didn't call me."

"What could you have done? Other than Sebastian's dad, I don't think anyone else's parents were called either. I only called him because the officer threatened me with obstruction charges because I wouldn't answer his questions. If he had just let me be, I wouldn't have bothered Mr. Smythe. But I didn't know any other lawyers and he already knew everything else that had happened, saving me the trouble of retelling everything to someone."

"He knew about Columbus?"

"We went to a 18 and up club in Columbus. Not a gay club -just a club to go dancing. There were six of us who are all 18 - me, Thad, Sebastian, Nick, Jeff, and Richard. Mr. Smythe's house is not far from the club. The plan was to go to the club until 11:00, be at the Smythe residence long before midnight, sleep, get up, swim in the pool, go out to lunch, go see a movie, and come back to Dalton. Nothing unusual. Just a night out with friends and a sleepover at one of the friend's house with parental supervision."

"Sounds fine."

"Yeah, until I go to the restroom in the club and get attacked. Thad figured out that I had been gone too long. Sebastian chased my attacker off, Jeff carried me to the Navigator, and Sebastian drove me to the hospital. I was x-rayed. I got stitches. The next morning, four of them still went swimming while Thad and I worked just to take showers with the addition of stitches in my other arm and my bruised ribs. We got ready by the time everyone else finished swimming. We still went out for lunch and to the movie. And I bought bandages, arm sleeves, and had my arm recast and then came back to Dalton."

"I see."

"Calling you and telling you that I was in the ER again in Dublin would not have changed anything that happened. They stitched me up and sent me on my way."

"I don't like any of this."

"And you think I do?"

"Of course not. That's not what I meant."

"I know. No one likes it. The players that are left on the McKinley team have pretty much zero possibility of being scouted for a college team if Beiste forfeits and they don't play. But she doesn't have enough guys for a viable team without the guys that are in jail, so there's still very little chance of anyone getting scouted even if she holds tryouts again or lets some of the guys who didn't make the cut on the team now. No one wins in this scenario. I don't win. Thad doesn't win. Sebastian doesn't win. The school was damaged. Maybe now, now that I screwed up this badly, you'll see why I never, ever told you what was going on in the first place. This. THIS is EXACTLY why I let them get away with it. I KNEW that standing up for myself would result in something far worse."

"I don't know what to say."

"Maybe there's nothing to say. Maybe you can just realize that I was right to hide those things from you. Maybe you can accept the fact that I was doing what was right on a larger scale, even though what people were doing to me was wrong. I've felt guilty my whole life for lying to you about how things were at school. Maybe just knowing that you understand and you don't hate me for lying to you for all those years is the best that can come out of all of this now."

"I don't hate you. I love you. I hope you know that. But until these recent events, I really didn't understand why you had kept so much from me."

"If this last round of arrests doesn't stop the harassment, I will leave Ohio, but I really want to finish my senior year here at Dalton. I hope that everyone in Lima who has a grudge against me is afraid enough of getting caught to leave me alone for the rest of the school year. With eight people in jail, I'm hoping that for those that were on the fence about participating in retaliating will reconsider."

"I would hope so."

"I am sorry about the fallout for Sam, Puck, Finn and Mike though and whoever else might be on the team that wasn't part of this. But you know, even Finn and Puck were part of it initially. I'm sure Finn blames me for him not getting to play anymore."

"He's actually pretty mad that those guys did what they did last night. If he knew you were attacked by someone, he'd be mad about that too."

"Well, I don't intend on telling anyone who doesn't already know. And that means you don't need to talk about it either. You're running for office. My personal life is fodder for new agencies now and I DON'T want that. At all. I need to finish high school, not become the newest person of interest for _The_ _Inquirer_."

"I know."

"If there's nothing else you want to ask me, I'm going to go see if I can at least get my books out of my room so I can get to work on my homework while the repair crew is in there."

"Alright. I'll talk to you later. Love you, kiddo."

"Love you too, Dad."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad and Kurt managed to get their books out of their room. They went back to Sebastian's room. He was just disconnecting a call he finished.

"Do you two want to go to my dad's for the rest of the weekend? We can get away from the stress of being here for a while?"

"I actually need to go get my stitches taken out and I've been too afraid to leave. We can get that done quickly on the way there. Is your dad okay with it? I don't want to bother him."

"I just asked and he said it was fine. He said he'd have Chinese delivered for dinner."

"Alright. I'll go pack clothes for us and grab our school bags. I'll be right back." Kurt left to get everything. He was back 10 minutes later. "Hopefully I got everything."

"If not, we're all pretty close in size, I'm sure something of mine would fit good enough."

There were still extra security guards on duty. Kurt and Thad waited on the front sidewalk while one of the security guards walked Sebastian to his car.

Sebastian pulled around and Kurt put their stuff in the back seat and had Thad ride up front since it was easier to get in and out of the front seat with his leg brace. Thad only brought his crutch with him.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt came out of the clinic area and got back in the car.

"Well, that was miserable, but it feels better now. And it's healing really well and I can get in the pool as long as I put a waterproof bandage over the area, which we will have to stop and pick up. I'm sorry."

"Not a big deal as long as one of you figures out which way I need to go to get to wherever you want to buy them."

Thad navigated them to the nearest pharmacy. Kurt grabbed what he needed and three chocolate bars and got back in the car again. He handed out the candy bars when he got in.

"I know, they aren't the good kind, but they're okay."

"Maybe we can look online for places to go around here. If we never tell anyone where we're going, we could stay at your dad's more often and get away from campus sometimes. I'm too afraid to walk around in Westerville anymore. Now, that they've locked up the last four culprits in the local lockup, their families and friends will potentially be making the trip to see them."

"I hadn't thought about that," Sebastian said.

Thad said, "If your dad doesn't mind, I wouldn't mind coming on some weekends. We can find the library near here and Kurt can check books out on your library card that you can get because your home address is here."

"Kurt and his books," Sebastian laughed.

"Hey, we entertained ourselves all summer with no internet and no TV by listening to audiobooks and reading books from the library," Kurt said in his own defense.

"I just like teasing you. I read a lot too, if you haven't noticed."

"Actually, I just figured those books were part of your assigned readings for classes since I have no idea what the IB classes use," Kurt said.

"Oh, well the textbooks are for my courses, but the other books you see me with are usually just books I want to read."

"I really loved the audiobooks when I had to lie in bed so much," Thad said. "You should try one some time. Jim Dale does a great job."

"Sounds interesting. See where the closest library is, Thad."

Thad changed their route. They sent Sebastian up to the main desk get a library card while they looked around. Kurt found an audiobook that he and Thad really liked and a book in the new releases section that he wanted to read. Thad grabbed a graphic novel just for fun. They handed Sebastian their choices and he got in the check out line.

"Alright, we have books, let's go swim before it gets dark."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I'm glad to see you three enjoying yourselves out in the pool. You all needed a break. And it won't be long before I'll have to drain the pool for the winter. Even with heated water, it will be too cold to swim. Ohio has a few flashbacks to summer with warm weather every October, then it turns nearly-winter cold quickly after that."

"Thanks for letting us come stay, Mr. Smythe," Kurt said.

"You're welcome anytime, and I'd like it if the two of you started to call me Art. That's what people who know me call me."

"I can try, Mr., Art," Kurt said.

"The food is inside in the kitchen. Did you all have something else planned for this evening?"

"No, Dad. I think we're just going to lie around and read books or maybe work on schoolwork, if we need to."

"Alright. Come on in so we can while it's still hot."

Sebastian got out of the pool and put a towel on the edge to kneel on. Kurt stabilized Thad near the edge of the pool so that Sebastian could grab him around the torso and pull him up out of the water to sit on the edge of the pool to dry off. Kurt helped him get the leg brace back on and Sebastian got him up off the ground and standing. They made it inside the house and down to the kitchen.

"Do you want us to change for dinner, Dad?" Sebastian asked.

"I think the food will definitely be cold by then. I should have thought about that. Let's take it outside and eat at the patio table. That way you three won't get the dining room chairs wet."

They carried the food out and enjoyed the last of the warm fall weather.

"This is really good." Kurt said. "There's this mostly carry-out place that I've been to in Westerville several times that has good food. They're quick too."

"I'll have to check it out sometime when I'm there. Have you all been considering where you want to apply to college? I know the ACT and SAT are coming up soon."

"I had started thinking about it and then all the stuff that's been going on has been distracting me. I need to get refocused," Kurt said.

"All I know is that I want to go someplace small. With a good composition program," Thad said. "I need to start doing research as well."

"We should have been doing research over the summer, but we didn't have internet access in the apartment. The library limits use of the computers to an hour a day, but we could have done a better job. We were just focused on other things at the time, but we don't have time to get distracted now."

"Have you thought about it Sebastian?" Thad asked.

"I'm going to go back to Paris, I'm pretty sure. I'm not even sure what I want to study though. That's the biggest problem. I've thought about taking a year off, but I don't know about that either."

"What about you, Kurt? Do you know what you want to study?" Art asked.

"Some type of performance art. Musical theater, music, theater - something along those lines. I know those jobs aren't secure or anything, but I really love to perform. I'm still a qualified mechanic and I can work doing that for as long as I need to. So, I'll probably end up doing a combination of both. But if the stalking and harassment continue, I don't know what I'll do. I can't live my life afraid to go anywhere like I am now."

"Hopefully it will stop with so many of them in jail now."

"I can hope. But keep in mind, now they've incarcerated the last four in the county I live in now. Anyone from Lima who wants to visit them, family and friends, will be driving to Westerville to see them, giving them the opportunity to harass me."

"I hope that's not the case," Art said.

"Me too, but hoping and wishing doesn't make things so."

The topic changed to the elections and a variety of other things. Kurt and Sebastian carried the empty containers back in. Kurt rinsed them and asked where the recycling went.

"Just leave it on the counter. I'm not sure. We'll ask tomorrow."

Kurt and Sebastian helped Thad walk up the stairs very, very carefully. With Kurt's left arm in a cast and his right arm with stitches just removed, there was no way he could help Sebastian carry Thad up. Once he was up, Sebastian ran back down and grabbed their bags. Sebastian had taken his books upstairs when he changed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"So, I think you should shower first, Sebastian. You can listen to the audio book while Thad and I get ready for bed since it takes us so long. By the time we get done, you should know whether or not you like it. We've listened to it before, but we really like it and we'll keep listening if you like it too. If not, we can just read regular books."

"Sounds reasonable." Sebastian grabbed pajamas out of dresser drawer and headed into his bathroom.

Kurt got their pajamas out of their bag and laid their clothes for the next day out on the back of Sebastian's desk chair. It wasn't long before Sebastian was back.

"That's one thing I totally look forward to," Kurt said.

"What?" Sebastian asked.

"The ability to take a fast shower. Don't get me wrong, I love long luxurious showers and baths, but the inability to take a fast shower is very frustrating. Sometimes, I just want to jump in and out and redress. Soon, someday soon."

Thad laughed. "The power of positive thinking in action. At this point, I'd just like to be able to shower standing up."

"I didn't think about that," Sebastian said. "That's what will make it take so long? Because I don't have a shower stool."

"Right."

"You know, tomorrow, I'll just go get one and bring it back. That way whenever you're here, it will be easier for you. They can't cost that much."

"About $40 I think."

"Meh. Not a big deal. My dad won't mind. Go ahead. I'll start the book."

Kurt and Thad repeated the steps they had come up with the last time and it went faster this time because Kurt could get his arm wet, which had slowed them down a lot the last time. They came out of the bathroom sooner than Sebastian had expected. He paused the book.

"That was fast. Well, you know what I mean."

"I could get my arm wet this time. The last time we were here, the stitches were new and I couldn't get them wet yet."

"Ah. That's right." He got up and pulled the covers back on the bed, so they could get Thad situated without having to move him again later.

Once Thad was lying down and his brace was off, Kurt went back into the bathroom and took the waterproof bandage off and came back with it uncovered.

"It looks a lot better with the stitches out," Sebastian said.

"It hurts less."

"That's good," Thad said and smiled sadly.

"I need to let it air out for a bit. Then I have to put the ointment back on and cover it. So, what did you think of the book so far?"

"I've actually never heard of this book, but I like it so far."

"It's a kids book, but with everything that has gone on, I thought it might a fun escape from reality," Kurt said.

"I'm going to run down and bring some water back up and maybe some snacks if I find any and then we can start listening again."

Kurt went in the bathroom and put a large rectangular bandage, about 4" x 5" that had some stretch to it and sealed around all four edges on. By the time he was done, Sebastian had come back up.

"I found some M&Ms."

He sat the three glasses of water down and pulled the bag of M&Ms out of his pocket and handed them to Kurt. He walked back around the bed and put Thad's glass on his side of the bed. He went back around again and lay down. As he got in the bed, he noticed Kurt's arm.

"Well, that will make things easier. It looks a lot more comfortable now."

"It is. I'll put gauze and tape over the top and wear that sleeve we bought for practice and the game this week."

"You're going to play still?"

"Of course, I still have my contract to fulfill. I want to stay at school and I no longer have the option of getting a job and living off campus because I'm too scared. There are only two more regular season games."

"You do realize that since we are undefeated, we will be going into the championship games," Thad said.

"And here I was feeling optimistic," Kurt said sarcastically.

Kurt and Thad were already holding hands. Kurt reached out and took Sebastian's. He startled a bit.

"I know, it's weird. Just go with it. Girls can hold hands with other girls they are friends with. Why can't we?"

"No reason I guess," Sebastian answered.

"I mean, what's the worst that's going to happen? Someone would call us 'fags' if they saw us do it. Not like I don't already get called that anyway. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you. I know I apologized for my behavior last week, but I never thanked you for sticking by me when I was being so sullen and unresponsive. Thad was my first real friend. And you're my second. I appreciate you not giving up on me and walking away especially after you realized what a danger it was to be my friend. I tried to push Thad away several times last spring because my life was so nuts. He wouldn't let me. And you've put up with so much in the short time we've known each other. I'm not sure why you haven't turned tail and run, but, well, just - thanks."

Kurt squeezed his hand and loosened his grip so that Sebastian could let go easily, but he held on.

"Turn your light off and we'll listen in the dark."

Sebastian restarted the book and turned the light off.

Kurt pulled the covers up over Thad and himself and Sebastian pulled the rest of the way up on his side. He retook Kurt's hand after they were all comfortable.

When Art came up to check on them around 9:00, he opened the door quietly because he only heard what sounded like possibly a movie. He saw them all sound asleep with a book playing. He shut the door back quietly and smiled at the fact that Sebastian had made some real friends.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, Kurt woke up and Thad was still asleep, but Sebastian wasn't in the bed anymore. He could hear him faintly talking in the bathroom. He lay there waiting for him to come out. About 10 minutes later, he did. Kurt got up and went in when he came out. Sebastian stayed sitting up on the edge until Kurt came back, making it easier for him to get in the middle spot. Kurt accidentally woke Thad up.

"I was talking to my _maman_. There's a six hour time difference so it's 2:00 in the afternoon there. I call her every Sunday morning."

"I bet you miss her."

"I do. A lot. I've not lived with my dad since I was four."

"You two seem to be getting along better now."

"We are. That's mostly due to you."

"Me?"

"Yeah. I told you that he really changed his viewpoint a lot, but I hadn't exactly done much to counteract his previous beliefs."

"Oh."

"I was becoming quite the wild child in Paris. Clubbing, drinking, making bad life choices."

"Okay."

"Having a lot of money and being young isn't always a good combination. Nothing I've told you previously was a lie," Sebastian said. "I wasn't completely gone. I hadn't started having one-night stands and living the life my dad thought gay guys had, but I was on my way to that. The friends I had became partiers as we got older. We got fake IDs and started hanging out in bars and dance clubs. Some of them had already started hooking up in clubs with older guys. That place we went to in Columbus is like a middle school dance compared to the places we were going."

"Oh."

"But when Thad said you had gone to the restroom alone, the first thing that flashed in my mind was that someone was, well... because of what I've seen goes on in the clubs I've been in."

"That never even crossed my mind that night when I went to the restroom."

"I figured not. That's why I ran and why I kicked the stall door in."

"I'm not sure I ever properly thanked you for that either. Thank you. You saved me from whatever else he had planned for me. For all I know, it could have been what you were just referring to. There is at least one closeted jock at McKinley, probably more than one."

Thad spoke up. "I'm really glad you got there in time to keep him from getting hurt any worse too."

"You're welcome. Both of you. I couldn't let someone get hurt like that."

Changing the subject back, Kurt asked, "So, you talk to your mom every Sunday."

"Yeah, yeah. I called her at 8:00, which is 2:00 her time. I told her about what happened Friday. She's being very mom-like and wants me to come home, which makes it doubly hard on me because I'd like to be with her and she's lonely, but I've actually gotten to like Dalton and there's the two of you and the Warblers. It's hard being caught in the middle, wanting two things that are completely unattainable simultaneously."

"I know all about that," Kurt said.

"Me too," Thad added.

"But she had something really interesting for me to tell you."

"What?" Kurt asked.

"That there's a chance that you're a French citizen."

"What?" Kurt asked like Sebastian had lost his mind.

"She's going to send me information. You said your mother was born in France to French parents."

"Yes."

"If your mother filed your birth properly, then you should be able to get a French passport and ID card. You could go to college in France for pretty much nothing other than the cost of living there. You've been talking about wanting to get really far away from Ohio. France is pretty far away."

"But Thad and I wanted to go to college together."

"There's nothing preventing Thad from applying to college in France. Unless his parents won't pay. He's in AP French. His French has to be decent."

Thad chimed in, "It doesn't matter to them where I go. Plus, something I've never brought up because I never thought it mattered - I'm a dual US/British citizen. I can live in France without all of the hassle an American might have."

Kurt looked thoroughly confused. "My dad is British. My mom is American. You knew I went to boarding school in England before I came to Dalton."

"Yes. I just never thought about your dad being British. He has an American accent."

Thad laughed. "So does Sebastian."

"Touché," Kurt said laughing.

"Actually my dad can switch back and forth. So, can I. I lived in England for a long time as a child. I've lived in Spain and in France briefly too. When they do negotiations here, my dad sounds American. In Europe, he tends to fall right back into his native British sound." Thad said the last part the way a Brit would.

Kurt laughed. "I had no idea you could do that. That's awesome."

"You're easily impressed. I can do it too," Sebastian said, and then continued with a British accent. "I had plenty of British teachers growing up. Just because my school was bilingual doesn't mean that all of the teachers that taught in English had American accents."

Kurt was laughing really hard by that point.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Art knocked on the door and opened it slowly. "I've made breakfast, if any of you are hungry."

"You cooked?" Sebastian asked.

"I have managed not to starve all these years, and the housekeeper doesn't come in until the afternoon, so she only makes dinner."

"Alright. We'll come eat. Although it would be a lot faster if I just brought the food up here than it would be to get Thad down the stairs," Sebastian suggested.

"That's fine."

Kurt and Sebastian went downstairs with him and the three of them carried all of the plates back up. Sebastian ran down a second time to grab the juice and a glass for his dad. The three boys ate in the bed and Art sat at Sebastian's desk.

"How much longer will you have to wear that brace, Thad?"

"The doctor said maybe 12 months total, but I will eventually be able to quit using the cane. I guess I'll probably have to go back to using it when the brace comes off. Maybe there's intermediary braces. I don't know yet. So, maybe by the end of the school year."

"How about you arms?" he asked both Kurt and Thad.

Kurt answered first. "Mine was supposed to come off in a week, but when they had to recast it, the time was extended. So, the current date is the 7th."

"Mine's supposed to come off then too, but I'm likely to end up in a brace, but a removable one, for a few weeks afterwards."

"If we make it into the football championship games, I'm not sure what the doctor will do. Recast it maybe until the football season ends? I don't know. At least the stitches are out of my arm. Those were so annoying."

"Are you already rehearsing for Sectionals?"

"Yes. We have our songs chosen and we're working on the vocals. Sebastian, David, Jeff, and I will start to work on choreography. We have a couple of new members who don't seem to be very good dancers from what we've seen so far. So, we're going to have to go with a layered effect. Like a back row of non-dancers, including Thad. Then a row in front of them that does some type of swaying, shuffling small steps that fit with the more complex choreography that those of us who can dance will do. Thad would have been part of the dancers if his leg weren't an issue. So, we've lost one of our dancers."

"Sounds tricky."

"It is when you consider that most of the schools we compete against have girls too. Their flashy, frilly dresses add to the visual appeal of their numbers," Thad said.

"When is the competition?"

"The Saturday before we have fall break during Thanksgiving week," Sebastian answered.

"So you still have what?" He paused thinking. "Four weeks?"

"Five," Kurt corrected.

"That gives you quite a bit of time."

"It does, if people stop vandalizing the building and attacking our lead singer," Thad said angrily.

"How do you choose songs?"

Thad answered, "Well, with two leads, we'll have a song that each of them sings lead on. The other sings the lead harmony part and they're both featured. The other song is more of a group piece where the two of them are among the featured singers, but not the only featured singers."

"And you do all of the arrangements?"

"Yes," Thad said.

"That's impressive. It's no easy feat to arrange a song for that many people."

"It's not easy, but it's really cool to hear it all come together. Did you see any of our performances from last year?"

"I didn't. I saw what you did for Family Weekend."

Sebastian got up and pulled his laptop out and signed into their private YouTube channel and handed Art his ear buds and plugged them in. He started "King of Anything" and let Art listen to it and watch.

"That's really impressive. So that was at the National Competition last spring?"

"Yes, in New York. We're singing that song for Sectionals. Sebastian will be singing the part that the shorter guy with the gelled hair was singing. That was Blaine Anderson."

"I've heard of Blaine. I know his father."

"Ah, well he transferred to McKinley."

"Why?"

"I don't have a good answer for that," Kurt said.

"He told me that his heart was at McKinley," Sebastian said.

"I'm very confused. I thought Kurt was the only out gay student at McKinley. If Blaine went there to be with someone, is the someone he's seeing in the closet?"

"She is the lead singer for the New Directions."

"She? I was pretty sure that Blaine's father said that he was gay."

"He's bi. He's dating a girl."

"I see. So, no bullying for him, then."

"Nope."

"Well, that's good for him."

"Definitely."

"We were talking about Sectionals," Sebastian changed the subject.

"Right." Kurt continued. "So, we're singing the song you just watched. And then a Boyz II Men song that Sebastian is lead on and an NYSNC song that features five of us - me, Sebastian, Jeff, Nick, and David."

"Well, if I need a ticket to attend, make sure to get me one, Sebastian."

"Alright, Dad. We don't even know who we're competing against or where it will be yet."

"Doesn't matter. I'll just mark that Saturday off on my calendar."

"Okay."

"Here, stack everything up and I'll take it back down. You boys can get started on your schoolwork."

"Thanks, Mr... Art," Thad said. "It was really good."

"You're welcome."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Well, I see why you told us that you were feeling like you were in an alternate universe. He doesn't seem at all like you described him when we first met," Kurt said.

"I know. It's like meeting you brought out this paternal side of him that I've never seen before."

"I don't think it's so much meeting me as it is seeing you as a real person and seeing you get injured for existing. Maybe when you were in France, you were just like this hypothetical son that was making all the wrong life choices and he felt the need to bring you here and set you straight. But you got here and you became a real boy." Kurt laughed. "He's gotten to know you as a person rather than just this son that lives far away."

"Maybe. I just know that if I hadn't started hanging around with the two of you, I would have probably found some people that partied and went to clubs like I did in Paris. I would have ended up stuck here for two years, earning a regular high school diploma with regular classes and continuing on my path of drinking and partying. I was very angry and I would have found equally angry people to get drunk and forget my problems with."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't do that. So, shall we be upright citizens and fulfill our educational duties and start studying?" Thad asked.

"I'll need the desk for a while if possible. I have a bunch of calculus problems to do. I brought Thad's lap desk." Kurt got up and pulled it out of the bag he had packed and handed it to Thad.

"The desk's all yours," Sebastian said. "I'll read."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

About four hours later, Art came up the stairs with two pizzas and some bottles of soda and water.

"I figured you three would be hungry by now. Such studious young men need to eat to keep their studying stamina up."

"Thanks," Thad said.

"We are definitely studious, otherwise we'd be making terrible grades. Dalton is not for the faint of heart when it comes to academic work load," Kurt said.

"It's definitely challenging," Sebastian added. He got up and put a folded towel in the middle of his bed for the pizzas to sit on.

Art pulled the desk chair close to the bed where the other three were sitting. "Well, then I'm getting my money's worth," Art laughed. "Are you three in any classes together?" He took a slice of pizza and started eating. So did everyone else.

"Sort of," Kurt answered. "Sebastian and I are the only two in the highest level of French, but it meets during AP French, so sometimes were in the same room with Thad, but the two of us have different assignments. We're in the Warblers together as well."

"Kurt and I have all of the same classes since I can't get around the school on my own. We're in all AP classes, with the French difference that he explained. Kurt took AP French last year."

"Is IB or AP harder?"

"I'm not sure there's a direct comparison. IB uses different textbooks and has different required courses. It's like a whole program. AP classes are the hardest level high school courses, but you can take as many as you want or just one in a subject you like a lot. Both will get college credit at American universities," Kurt answered.

"I hadn't heard of AP classes before I came here," Sebastian said.

"So, Kurt has five AP classes, one he's studying for independently, the IB third level French with Sebastian and the Warblers. I have six AP classes and the Warblers, and Sebastian has six IB courses and the Warblers."

Art nodded. "What do your parents do, Thad?"

"They're negotiators, mostly high level corporate stuff, but some contract government work too."

"And they travel a lot?"

"Yeah. They're based out of Seattle now. I came to Dalton because my grandfather graduated from Dalton."

"I see. My dad might have known your grandfather." He grabbed a couple more slices of pizza and stacked them on a napkin. "I won't keep you boys. One of you bring down the leftovers, if there are any."

"Got it, Dad. Thanks."

"No problem. Are you going to study all day?"

"Depends on how long it takes to get everything done. Hopefully not. It looks nice outside. Maybe we'll move outside to study after we get around to getting dressed," Thad answered. "I'm being lazy and sitting in the bed with my brace off. They're just being nice and not making me feel like I'm TOO lazy by sitting around in their pajamas too. I leave it off as much as I can on the weekends. It gets really annoying. But usually I have to put it on, take it off, put it on, which also get annoying. Since you brought food to us, I've had it off for like 18 hours. It's been great. Thanks."

"Well, you're welcome. I'm glad you've had a chance to relax."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They got dressed, packed their stuff up, slowly made their way downstairs and finished their reading outside. Before dinner, they headed back to Dalton.

Kurt met with Coach Moreland on Monday and arranged for Thad to continue his physical therapy on campus. He practiced for the first time in a week. He was still sore, but he managed to get through the practice. He continued to practice all week.

Thad ordered a class ring catalog and a ring sizer and brought up the idea of custom class rings to the Warblers. They decided that they would pass the catalog around through the group and give everyone a chance to look at it and discuss the decision to order rings a couple of weeks later. They focused on learning the music for their sectionals pieces and scheduled a choreography meeting for Saturday morning to block out the numbers and get of the pieces complete.

Friday evening was the football team's last away game for the regular season. The coach never left Kurt or Thad unattended. They won, 28-25, their closest game of the season.

Saturday morning, Kurt was exhausted, but he got up and went to work on the choreography anyway. He worked on what the less coordinated dancers would do, while Sebastian and Jeff worked on the harder choreography. David worked on coming up with simple movements for the back row including Thad could do, mostly arm sways, finger snaps or claps - anything that could be done standing completely still.

The next week was much the same, with the exception that the final football game of the regular season was a home game and it was very well attended. It was the first time in many, many years that the football team had the potential of ending their regular season undefeated. Kurt felt a lot of pressure, as usual, but he was glad that it was almost over. Carole and Burt came to see him play.

They won their final game 35-28. The school had extra security for the night after what had happened after their last home game. There were no incidents.

Burt and Carole stayed overnight and took Kurt out for breakfast the next morning. Kurt made sure that Thad was dressed before he left and Sebastian was going to go to breakfast with him.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt waited inside the building until Burt and Carole pulled up. He went out and got straight into the car. He was still on edge leaving the building.

They went out of town for breakfast to a smaller town nearby. After they ordered, Burt started talking.

"How are things at school?"

"There haven't been any more acts of vandalism. I stay on campus all the time. Thad's getting physical therapy from the school's sports team physical therapist so I don't have to drive him to the clinic anymore."

"Well, that's handy and saves time."

"It does."

"Art says that the three of you have spent the weekend at his house."

"That's true, but you didn't talk about that where anyone from Lima could hear you, did you?"

"No. It was a political event."

"Well, don't talk about it, even between the two of you anywhere. It's the one place that we can go and I feel safe. No one knows where he lives. We get the security guard to walk Sebastian to his car and then he picks us up where you picked me up. We can be normal there, unless someone finds out that I'm going there."

"You're really paranoid about this."

"Not paranoid. Realistic. Four of them are in jail here in Westervillle. Their friends and family have a reason to come to where I was safe. I'm not paranoid. I'm legitimately scared."

"I hadn't thought about that," Carole said.

"I wish I could STOP thinking about it. The school is paying for extra security still. Now, I'll have more football games to play and they're all away games. I'm going to have to be provided a bodyguard basically. Coach Moreland already has the two biggest guys on the team accompanying me everywhere."

"Oh, honey. That's gotta be tough"

The waitress returned with their food. The all ate as they continued to talk.

"I just want it to end. I wish I had never pressed charges. I wish I had just had the sense to say I didn't know who they were and let it go. I don't even know when the trial is. I guess if the charges are serious enough, they could get sentenced to a state penitentiary, but I think some of them were under 18, so they'd have to be tried as adults. If they get left in the Westerville regular lock up for the rest of the year, I risk running into the people visiting them every single day. It makes me a prisoner at the school and Thad and Sebastian too. Thad's pretty much stuck because he still hasn't been released to drive and he has no car since his was totaled in the wreck last May and his parents have no reason to buy a car for a person who can't drive. But Sebastian is stuck too. I hate it."

"I can imagine," Burt said. "I've been the focus of attention since I started my campaign and the loss of privacy is really annoying. So, while I'm not afraid like you are, I am feeling the constant watchful eyes that are everywhere and it's unsettling."

"How is the campaign going?"

"It's close, which is saying that I'm doing well. Usually independents don't come anywhere near matching the Republican and Democratic candidates."

"Well, I'm voting by mail. I'm not stepping foot in Lima. Sebastian said that Art is going to vote for you."

"That's nice to know. How's your arm doing?"

"It's healing. I might not get my cast off since we're going into the playoffs. So, that's a drag. Thad is supposed to get his off the same day, but he'll still get his off. He's up and walking around with his crutch most of the time. Now, a lot of days I wheel him to the classroom wing and we fold his chair and leave it in the back of the first period room and he walks around the rest of the day and then I wheel him back."

"That's good."

"Yeah, he's been stuck in that thing forever it feels like. Can I ask you why you excluded him from the breakfast invitation?"

"I just wanted to spend time with you, Kurt. I feel like I never get to see you anymore."

"You wouldn't see less of me, if Thad were sitting here too. It just makes me feel like you don't like him being part of my life. Carole came with you and I'm fine with that. I'm not seeing you less because she is with you. Thad and I have been together for almost eight months now. At some point, you're going to have to get used to him being around."

"I know. I know."

"How are things with the shop? Is it being vandalized?"

"No. I think my running for office has scared kids away from targeting the shop,"

"Well, that's good news."

They were quiet for a while, focusing on their food.

"How are your classes?"

"Hard, but I'm doing well. I'll still have football practice until we lose, or I guess we could win, but that would mean playing for like six more weeks. So, honestly I'm ready for us to lose. I know that sounds awful, but I'm tired of practicing every day. It's going to get to where I have no daylight hours to enjoy."

"I understand. Winning is nice, but football isn't your focus. When is your Sectionals? The New Directions' aren't until after Thanksgiving, which seems really late to me."

"Ooh, insider information," Kurt laughed. "That means that we aren't up against them for Sectionals because ours are before Thanksgiving. That actually take a weight off my shoulders. It means we won't be assigned to perform at McKinley."

"Sorry if I told you something I wasn't supposed to."

"It's fine. We would have found out this week anyway, probably Monday."

"Send me the date and time and we'll come watch wherever you're performing."

"I'll do that. I actually have to be back at school at 11:00 for Warblers practice. I've had to start holding meetings on Saturdays because of football rehearsal. That's why I really just hope we lose soon. Then I'll be able to have my Saturday mornings free again."

"Is there anything you need while we're here? Since you can't get out on your own anymore?"

"There is one place I'd like to go."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad finished up their lunch after the Warblers choreography meeting. Kurt was walking just slightly faster than Thad could keep up with easily.

"Kurt, slow down just a bit. You're going too fast."

"I'm sorry." He slowed down, but was bouncing a bit and had an excited look on his face.

"What's the rush? Surely you're not THAT excited about whatever paper you were working on for French."

"Nope. I finished that last night. I just need to swap with Sebastian later to make sure I didn't miss anything."

"What are you so excited about then?"

"You'll see."

They made it into their room and Thad had barely gotten to door shut when Kurt practically pinned him to the door and started kissing him.

"Oh, kissing. I like kissing. Is this what had you so excited?"

"Sort of." Kurt let go of him and led him to the bathroom. "We're going to shower. And then you can find out my surprise."

"Well, I'd never turn down a shower with you." Thad started to undress. Kurt decided that he needed help and moved Thad's hands out of the way to do it for him, kissing him wherever skin started to show. "Mmm. I like your idea so far."

"You'll like all of it. I'm certain."

Thad returned the favor and undressed Kurt. Kurt had been so tense and on edge that this was a very welcome change in demeanor.

They eventually got into the shower, but the kissing continued. It was the first time that Kurt had been relaxed since before the attack in Columbus.

"Can you straddle the stool and make room for me too?"

"Definitely. Does that mean?"

"Only if you want to."

"Oh, I do." Thad leaned forward and they resumed their kissing.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Turn over on your stomach." Kurt helped Thad get comfortable.

"So, you got to go get more of the products you had run out of this morning? You were all excited because you were planning to give me a massage?"

"Exactly. I ran out and couldn't go get anymore easily. I've missed doing this. I love making you feel good and touching you."

"Mmm. Right there. Ooh. That hurts, but in a good way. Wearing that sling stabilized my shoulder, but it also made it stiff. That feels so good."

"I'm glad." Kurt started placing kisses all over Thad's back and neck while he was massaging him."

Thad starting moaning quietly. Kurt turned around and began massaging Thad's legs.

"Your calf muscles are really tense."

"I've been doing a lot more walking the last week or two. They've gotten weak from being in the chair so much. They're stiff from the recent workout they're getting."

"I'll start massaging them every evening. I wish you had told me they were bothering you."

"You've been so upset."

"But this is something I could have done something about and made you feel better. Please don't hide things from me. I know it's a little of the pot calling the kettle black. I'll do better too. We can't let this stuff push us apart. We're strong together."

"We are. That feels really good. I want to touch you too. I'm not sure how, but we're figuring it out as soon as you're done with me."

"Okay." Kurt smiled. "You can think about how to do it while I keep rubbing your calves." Kurt finished a few minutes later. "So?"

"Well, all I can figure is that it requires you to be a contortionist."

"I can do my best. I'm pretty flexible."

"Help me prop up against the headboard with all of our pillows behind me. I'm not putting the leg brace back on yet."

Kurt grabbed all of their pillows and got Thad where he wanted to be.

"Alright. Come sit in the space here," he patted the bed between his knees.

Kurt carefully got into the spot and handed Thad the lotion. Kurt wriggled around and lay all different ways allowing Thad to reach pretty much everywhere he wanted to.

"I've missed that more than I had even realized. It's been so long. I guess all the way back..."

"Back too long," Thad finished. "Try lying on me. Maybe it won't hurt. It's been a long time."

"Are you sure?"

"I want to hold you close. Please. I promise to tell you if it hurts. And you'll tell me if it hurts you."

Kurt pulled most of the pillows out so that Thad could lie back. Kurt lay so that most of his weight was on Thad's right side.

"Slide toward the wall and roll on your side. Me lying on you isn't relaxing for either of us right now. I need this cast off and to be able to put weight on my arm."

They eventually found a position that they were comfortable in and fell asleep kissing and holding each other.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A knock on the door woke them up. Kurt got up and went to the door.

"Who is it?"

"Sebastian, of course. I'm supposed to meet you for dinner now."

"Oh. Sorry, we fell asleep. Can you come back in 10 minutes?"

"Sure."

Kurt handed Thad his brace and helped him get it on and the got dressed quickly. They were almost done when Sebastian knocked again. Kurt opened the door and let him in.

He still had his shoes to get on. Sebastian reached down and helped Thad with his shoes and tied them. He grabbed a cardigan from Thad's closet and tossed it to him.

"You two look to be in a good mood. Nice nap?" Sebastian asked with a smirk.

"It was glorious," Kurt answered, smiling.

"Best nap in ages," Thad said.

"I see," Sebastian said laughing.

"Not like THAT," Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, Kurt."

"Let's go eat," Thad laughed.

They ate and returned to Kurt and Thad's room.

"Come in," Kurt said as he let Sebastian go in first. "Actually, go change into your pajamas and come back."

"It's not even 7:00."

"Do you have plans for the evening?" Kurt asked.

"No."

"Then, go shower and put your pajamas on and come back."

Sebastian looked confused, but went the rest of the way down the hall to his room and did what Kurt said. He knocked on the door 15 minutes later and Kurt let him in. Thad was in their bed in his pajamas, but Kurt hadn't had time to change yet. He took them in the bathroom and changed quickly.

"So, what's with the pajamas so early?"

"We didn't finish the audiobook at your house weekend before last. It's a pajama-wearing, book-listening, chocolate-eating party." Kurt opened the dresser and got out three chocolate bars and handed one to each of them.

"Ooh, you got the good ones," Thad said.

"I got them this morning when I went shopping for things I needed with my parents."

"Well, thanks," Sebastian said.

"So, climb in the extra bed and I'll turn the book on."

Kurt turned the book on, the light off and got in bed with Thad.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Once Thad and Sebastian were awake the next morning, Kurt started talking.

"So, next weekend."

"Next weekend?" Sebastian repeated.

"Yes. Next weekend, I want to go to your dad's house. We'll leave Saturday morning and stay until Monday. I'll get permission for you to miss your morning classes. Thad and I already have the morning cleared to see the doctor in Dublin, which is close to where your dad lives."

"How will you manage that?"

"After the things that have happened to me, I'm betting I could ask for just about anything and get it. You driving us there won't be that hard to swing, I'm sure."

"Okay?" Sebastian said.

"And we're going to do our best to have as little homework left to do as possible because I want to go somewhere that will be a surprise."

"Got it. Kurt has some crazy scheme concocted, so I do all my homework early this week. And I make sure we can use my dad's house as a base for whatever this crazy scheme is."

"Exactly," Kurt said.

"You are remarkably cheerful. What's going on?" Sebastian asked.

"Nothing really. I'm just sick of everything and I've decided that I might as well choose to be happy and do what I want rather than sit around waiting for someone to do something awful to me again. I can't prevent people from being awful. That doesn't mean that I'm going to go wander around Westerville any time soon. But I'm tired of the three of us being imprisoned here in this building. We'll go out, go far enough away that no one we know will be around and we'll have fun."

"Sounds like a plan," Thad said.

"Aren't we supposed to meet Saturday morning to work on the choreography?"

"Meh. I'm going to cancel. We can work on it next week somehow. In addition to my 'crazy scheme' as you called it, we're going to work on college applications. We need to start to figure out what we need in order to get into college. We should have done it sooner, but better now than waiting even longer."

"Alright," Thad said. "You're right. We need to get working on it."

"So, shall we head to breakfast?"

"In a minute," Sebastian said. "I'm going to lie here for a few more minutes."

"Fine by me," Thad said. "I'll go get started since I'm he slowest." Kurt helped him get the brace on and he headed for the bathroom.

"I need you to help me with something."

"Sure. What?"

"Well, Thad and I used to take walks in the woods behind the school. I want to go again before it gets any colder. Next Saturday morning before we leave, I want you to push him out to the woods for me. And then just sit in the chair and read until we come back. I know it's an imposition, but it's been six months since we've been able to go."

"Sometimes I forget about how long he's been in that chair because it started before I got here. I'll do it."

"Thank you! It really means a lot to me. There's a bench back in the woods in a small clearing area and that's where we first kissed. Next Saturday it will be 8 months since that day."

"We met three months ago yesterday. You had been dating Thad less than the amount of time that we've known each other when you took over his full-time care."

"That's true."

"Had the two of you been close before that?"

"Not really, no. I hadn't made any friends at that point, really."

"But you'd been here since November? So, three or four months and you hadn't made any friends. That seems odd."

"How about we just skip this topic and you can ask Thad sometime. I'll tell him that he can tell you. I've just managed to get myself out of the funk I was in to an extent and talking about that... will not help."

"Sure. I didn't mean to upset you."

"I know you didn't. It's fine. Go get dressed so we can go eat breakfast. Don't forget to ask your dad," Kurt said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After breakfast, Kurt was in a funk. He couldn't place what was going on or why he felt so listless. He tried reading a book and just couldn't focus. Thad tried getting him to watch a movie or listen to a book, but Kurt turned him down.

Thad came up with a plan. He texted Sebastian from the bathroom to set it in motion.

After lunch, there was a knock on their door. Kurt went to open the door and found most of the Warblers standing in the hallway holding bags from the grocery store. Jeff was at the front of the group.

"Please bake for us," Jeff said and batted his eyes in an attempt to be funny.

"Bake for you?"

By then, Thad was standing next to Kurt in the doorway.

"Yes. Tomorrow is Halloween and we need treats. We went shopping and bought all of the stuff we think you'll need."

Kurt looked at all of the grocery bags they had. "It looks like you have enough stuff to make a lot more than just cookies."

"Well, we might have bought candy and other snacks too."

"Uh huh. And if I agree to bake for you, will you promise not to eat them until tomorrow night? Which is when I'm assuming there's some kind of party I wasn't aware of."

The guys looked at each other. None of them seemed to be willing to make that promise.

"Ok, will you promise to leave enough for whatever party you're planning?"

"Sure," Trent agreed. "We have enough ingredients to make a LOT of cookies. So, will you bake for us?"

"I'll need some assistants. You can figure out who the assistants are. I'll just change and be right out."

The group started to walk away from the door. Jeff stayed behind.

"Did you need something else Jeff?"

"Someone has to bring Thad up to the kitchen. We're not leaving him behind."

"Of course not, I was going to help him up. He's been making a lot of progress."

"I'll still wait, just in case." Jeff leaned against the hallway wall.

Kurt and Thad changed into their sweatpants and Dalton t-shirts and reopened the door and walked with Jeff to the stairs.

"I'll do whatever you want," Jeff said to Thad as they approached the stairs. "I can only imagine how frustrating it gets to need help all the time. If you want to try it, you can. But I can just pick you up, if that's okay."

"Sure, it will save time." Thad let Jeff pick him up bridal style and Kurt carried his crutch up to the third floor. He sat Thad down on the landing and the three of them walked together to the kitchen.

When they got there, the Warblers had started separating out the stuff from the sacks they had brought back. There was a pile of chips, a pile of candy, some bottled drinks, a bunch of different kinds of lunchmeats, cheeses and condiments and loaves of French bread.

"I see we're having some kind of sub sandwich party?" Kurt asked as they entered the kitchen.

"Seemed easy enough," Nick said.

"And no one will burn anything since subs don't get cooked," Flint added.

"I'm assuming there's a story that goes with this that I don't know."

A bunch of them laughed. "Well, we managed to set the kitchen on fire last Halloween."

"I see. Well, that won't be happening this time. Did assistants get chosen?"

Three guys stepped forward - Sebastian, Michael, and David.

"What are the rest of you going to do?"

"Play video games," Richard said.

"Sounds about right," Kurt said, "Okay, let's get baking."

A half hour later, there were quite a few guys gathering like vultures on the side of the counter that was open into the lounge. They were looking in and staring at their prey - the cookies that were starting to be put onto plates.

"Shoo. You can have some in a little bit. I'll be sure to let you know."

"But they're so good when they're warm," Jeff said, giving him puppy eyes.

"Fine, fine. You all can split the first warm batch." Kurt picked up the plate of cookies and put it on the counter.

"You should start a bakery," Nick said.

"These are really good," Xavier said. "They were right about how good you are at this."

"Thanks," Kurt said. He went back to mixing more batches of different kinds of cookies.

His assistants were still busy putting the dough onto the cookie sheets. Thad was standing in the corner leaning against the counter. Kurt washed his hands and walked over to him and kissed him gently. The guys in the kitchen had their backs to them and the ones in the lounge couldn't see them. Kurt walked out the door and into the lounge and grabbed one of the chairs from the table. He carried it back into the kitchen and put it near where Thad was standing. He kissed him again.

"In case you get tired of standing," Kurt whispered in his ear and kissed him one last time before he went back to mixing up more cookie dough. Thad smiled. His plan had been a success. Whatever was bothering Kurt was pushed out of his mind for the time being and baking always cheered him up.

By dinnertime, Kurt and his assistants had baked 16 dozen cookies, 6 of which did not make it until dinnertime, but there were plenty ready for the party the next evening. They packed the party cookies into ziplock bags they had bought at the store and put them in Flint's room to prevent anyone from just randomly finding them and helping themselves.

"So, tomorrow evening at 7:00, there will be a Halloween party in the first floor lounge. We'll make the subs up here and take everything down. So, we'll need some guys to help with sandwich prep and delivery," David said. He got a few volunteers. "Good. Be here at 6:30."

They headed down to dinner as a group. Kurt and Thad risked getting written up for going to dinner in their sweats. Neither one of them cared enough at that moment to go back to their rooms and change. They enjoyed eating with the whole group and lucked out that none of the staff said anything about their attire.


	11. Chapter 11

The instant they made it back inside their room after dinner, Kurt pinned Thad to the door as he reached around him and locked the door. He started kissing his neck and running his hands along Thad's sides. He turned the light overhead light back off, leaving the room dim with just the lightly coming in under the curtains onto the floor.

Thad leaned his crutch in the corner behind the door and wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck. "You are exceedingly good at that." Thad moaned as Kurt moved up his neck to his lips.

"So are you," Kurt said between kisses. "I think we need to shower." Kurt pulled his own t-shirt off, then Thad's.

Between kisses, Thad agreed. They moved their kissing into the bathroom.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad were snuggled up in bed listening to music.

"Thank you," Kurt said.

"For what?"

"I don't know how you got so many of the Warblers to participate, but I know you had the baking day idea. I hadn't heard any talk of a Halloween party and now we're having one. Somehow you played party planner too. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I know you think I'm the one always taking care of you, but you take care of me too. And I'm well aware how hard I make that for you."

Thad laughed. "It's okay. I love how determined you are. You work so hard at everything you do, even if sometimes you are determined to think you have to keep everything to yourself. I quit taking it personally a long time ago. I know it's just the way you've always had to deal with things. You share so much more than you used to."

"You deserve the truth." Kurt spoke quietly, "I'm afraid. I've been afraid and I forced myself to live through it. But now it's you too. How can I be so selfish as to put you through living that way? Maybe I should have let you go to rehab and just found a boarding school in Arizona or somewhere. I say I love you and it's true. I love you so, so much." Kurt kissed him gently. "But at what point am I just being inordinately selfish? I could still move far away. As soon as football ends in a few weeks, I could transfer somewhere and then you'd be safe. You could go back to leading a normal life."

"Scoot closer."

"I'm already right next to you."

"On me, lay on me."

Kurt tried to. "Bend your left knee so I can't accidently put any pressure on your leg." Kurt moved again and halfway lay on him. "I can't wait to get these casts off, but that's what started my downward spiral again this morning."

"What do you mean?"

"It's been three weeks since I was attacked in Columbus. The dumpster toss was four weeks before that. This morning, it just hit me that it's been long enough for more retaliation. Like I have a week of anticipation of something good happening, but it also means a week of dreading what they will do when something else goes right in my life. I mean, in Columbus, it was like this 'How dare you have friends and think that it's okay for your life to be pleasant?' smack in the face. These people do not want me to enjoy my life. They feel like I have no right to exist and if I have to exist that I should be miserable the whole time. Out of sight, out of mind worked until they got prosecuted, but it's been different since then. At what point should I just say 'no more' and let them win? At what point should I just walk away and give you a chance for a normal life? I love you so much that it physically hurts me to think of not being with you. But letting them hurt you again because of me just kills me inside."

Thad rubbed his hand up and down Kurt's arm, trying to comfort him.

Kurt continued. "You're my best friend. I love you more than anyone. You're my absolute favorite person in the world. I want you to have the best life. I just don't see how that can be with me. And that makes me feel absolutely awful about myself because I don't want to let you go."

Thad continued to comfort Kurt and let him cry for a while. Then he gently put his hand on Kurt's face and stroked his cheek with his thumb. Kurt attempted to nuzzle in closer, but Thad used his hand to guide Kurt's face so that he could manage to kiss him. He kissed him gently and calmly. He let Kurt nuzzle into his neck after the kisses.

"I need you to listen carefully. I don't want to be 'set free' or whatever it is that you want to call you walking away from me for my own supposed benefit. You have to listen to me when I tell you that you are also my best friend, my favorite person in the world, and I love you more than anyone. It kills me a little every time I think that when I see you walk out of our room or out of my view that it might be the last time I see you - that one day you will just decide that I'm better off without you and you'll just be gone. That will never be true. It's the same lie that you've heard too many times, but it's still a lie. The world would not be a better place without you. My life would not be better without you."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Everything."

Thad just held him close, not knowing anything else to do.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Monday was a typical day of classes, Warbler rehearsal, followed by football practice and dinner. Kurt and Thad didn't eat much at dinner because of the party that was taking place that evening, but Kurt knew he needed to eat something after all of the energy he had used up football practice.

"Are people dressing up for the party? I didn't even think about it until now."

"I'm sure that some people will, just for the fun of it, but we don't have to."

"Okay. Maybe we can do something with the clothes we have, like a 50s or 60s thing."

"We can try."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt borrowed some Levis from Sebastian and Thad wore a pair of jeans and they cuffed the bottoms. They put on v-neck white t-shirts, cuffed the sleeves, and tucked them in. They did their best to give themselves a 50s vibe with their looks and their hair. They locked their room and went to the lounge about 6:45 to help set up an extra table and arrange the food that the other Warblers were bringing down for the party.

By 7:00, it seemed like most everyone had arrived. They ate, played games, watched a movie, sang karaoke, and just enjoyed themselves. By 10:00, people started clearing out since they all had class early the next morning.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The Warblers' rehearsals became dance rehearsals for the rest of that week. They practiced to their own vocal recordings and worked to perfect their moves.

David brought a tripod and they recorded themselves on the stage. Each person was sent a copy of the video and Sebastian told them to study it carefully to see where they needed improvement and to come ready the next day to either do the moves correctly by practicing it on their own or ask for specific help.

He was pleased to see how much improvement had been made in one night.

"Alright guys. That was a lot better than yesterday. We're going to go through the pieces a couple more times, and were going to video the results."

Once they had finished, everyone sat down, rested, and watched the video on their phones using ear buds. Sebastian got a few questions that he answered. He saw several people get out of their seats and stand up to work out what they were doing wrong. When the bell rang, everyone headed out of the auditorium.

Sebastian walked over to Kurt and Thad. "So compared to previous competition readiness levels, how are we doing?"

"I think the video self-feedback is a really good idea." Kurt said. "I think seeing what we are doing from the audience's perspective is making a big difference. I think we are in a better place than we were last year before Regionals. I can't really speak to how ready we were at this point before Sectionals because I was working non-stop to learn my part since I arrived and joined so late in the semester. I wasn't even here last year at this point."

"I knew you came in late, but I didn't realize how late I guess," Sebastian said.

"Less than two weeks before Sectionals."

"That was some quick learning on your part."

"Nah, the New Directions don't even have set lists until the week of competition most of the time."

"That's insane," Thad said.

"When I left last year, they had no set list."

"Anyway, the video seems to be helping people figure out their own problems, which makes it easier than having one person responsible for correcting everyone," Sebastian said.

"I agree," Kurt said. "If we continue to make this much progress, I don't think we'll need rehearsals outside our normal schedule. So, this Saturday's rehearsal is cancelled, not rescheduled. We'll let everyone know tomorrow at rehearsal."

The whole time they had been talking, they had been walking toward the locker rooms.

"Well, this is me. You two can come in and we can keep talking or you can wait for me out here."

They followed him inside and sat on benches and faced away as he changed.

"Tomorrow we'll record ourselves singing and dancing and we'll review that with the five of us watching and make some individualized suggestions as needed," Sebastian suggested.

"That will work as a starting point, but the phone won't pick up the audio accurately as far as balance goes. So, we can listen to see if we can hear anyone singing obviously off pitch or singing the wrong part, but the vocal fine tuning will still have to be done in person."

The three of them left the locker room and Kurt headed out to the field. Sebastian stayed with Thad and sat down at the table where he watched the team practice from.

"Did the baking and the party help?"

"Briefly. He's just morally torn. He wants to protect all of us from the Lima Losers. He's feeling like he's been left alone for just long enough to start to let his guard down again and that they're going to strike again once he and I get our casts off on Monday. It was a month between the dumpster toss and the attack in Columbus. This weekend it will have been a month since the attack in Columbus and three weeks since the bricks through the windows."

"So, he wants to distance himself from us to protect us?"

"Yep. Sometimes the way he talks really scares me. It's like they gotten into his mind to the point where he believes that if he were gone everything would be better. They've been telling him that for years, but he ignored them until they came after us. The fact that he's making real friends and enjoying his life is a real problem for those jerks. And we're liabilities. We've made him vulnerable. If he had been alone that day, he would have waited until they left and he would have found a way out of that dumpster and probably called his dad and given some dumb story about how some study group ran late at Dalton and he wasn't going to be able to make it to Lima and back before he had to go to some other meeting. He'd have driven back here, cleaned himself up, probably down here in the locker room and then pretended none of it happened. And his lesson of the day would have been to go straight to his house and never stop at the Shake Shack again."

"So, because he's not alone, he's vulnerable now. That's like the opposite of logical. We always think that we are stronger together. Strength in numbers and all that."

"Well, that's true of course, but think of every super hero movie. The thing the super hero values most is what the villains will attack. He is scared for the two of us. I had to keep him from ditching you right after the brick incident and I've had to practically beg him to stop saying that leaving me would make my life better."

"God, they've done such a number on him. Where they didn't succeed by attacking him all those years, they've succeeded now."

"I'm on edge all the time because I feel like I'm walking on a fault line just waiting for the earthquake."

"I'm assuming you've tried to take his mind off of it in OTHER ways?"

"That's private. But think about what you're asking. We both have casts on our arms. His other arm is healing, but still sore. His ribs have mostly healed, but I can tell you from first hand experience that rib injuries are the worst. You can't keep your ribs from moving. They move when you breathe. And remember that he's been playing football and attending all of these practices under somewhat false pretenses of being okay enough to play. He couldn't afford to lose his scholarship so he lied about how much pain he's in. I know he did. I could see the pain in his eyes even when he said he was okay."

"So, he went back to playing before he should have?"

"Most definitely. I can guarantee from the bruising on his ribs that he was in too much pain to train, but he started back as soon as he was released for the concussion. He plays everything close to the vest and wears his mask well."

Sebastian and Thad spent the rest of practice talking. They speculated on Kurt's weekend plans for the three of them.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

At Warblers rehearsal the next day, Kurt overheard quite a few of them talking about going to see _West Side Story_. With everything that had gone on, he had honestly not thought about it. Before the end of the rehearsal, Kurt stood and requested to speak to the group.

"I know that many of you will be heading to Lima tomorrow to watch Blaine perform in _West Side Story_. I would like to caution all of you about arriving in fancy vehicles, wearing expensive clothing, and behaving like proper prep school boys. McKinley is not like Dalton, at all. Please do not wear your uniforms, and avoid looking flashy. I'd rather not find out that the locals decided to mug you while you're there."

"You make it sound like the inner city or something," Nick said.

"No, but it's Hicksville for certain, and most of those hicks don't like gay boys. Before you say ANYTHING, listen carefully. Their nickname for Dalton is 'Gay Hogwarts'. Your actual sexual orientation will have nothing to do with how they will perceive you being dressed in designer, or what they consider to be 'fancy' clothing. I'm sure you can all figure out how to dress down without looking like you're trying to join inner city gangs. If not, feel free to come down to my room and show me what you're planning to wear. Also, I'd suggest carpooling in the least fancy cars. Stay together. Remember that it was four students from McKinley that broke dorm room windows and spray painted our building."

Kurt sat back down. The final bell rang and everyone left. Kurt and Thad headed to football. They ate dinner with Sebastian, and afterwards they all worked on their schoolwork to get as much of it done as possible, even staying up a bit later than they normally did, so they wouldn't have any left for the weekend, if possible.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next day Kurt was called down to the office during his third period class. He arrived and was directed to the USPS delivery driver that was holding an envelope that he had to sign for. He signed and the driver left. He asked the secretary for a letter opener. He carefully opened the envelope to find his French birth certificate inside. He asked that his pass to return to his class be written with enough time for him to store the envelope in is room before returning to class.

Later in the day, after the Warblers had all left, Kurt and Thad were walking to football practice. Kurt stopped and whispered in Thad's ear. "I want to talk about our Florida plans later. I want to set up the appointment in Miami to get my ID card and Passport while we're in Florida for Thanksgiving."

Thad nodded and they resumed walking. Thad went into the locker room with Kurt while he changed. Kurt was to the point of being willing to pray to a deity he didn't believe in that Dalton would lose the next evening, just so football would be over for the year.

They spent the evening the same way they had the evening before. By the time they went to bed, they had finished everything that had been assigned for Monday that they knew of. They all hoped that none of their teachers would assign them anything big during the day on Friday.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Friday evening was the Regional Quarter Finals game. They traveled to Columbus to play on a neutral field. As much as Kurt wanted them to lose, he knew it was his job to help them win. He did everything in his power to ensure their victory. They won 35-31.

He and Thad had the constant companionship of the two largest members of the football team all evening, which did help him feel less like a target.

When they got back to the school, they went directly back to their room. They hadn't managed to escape to a completely homework-free weekend, but the only things that had been added were some additional reading, which wouldn't be that time consuming.

They packed their bags so they'd be ready to leave the next morning.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

As soon as they had finished breakfast, Kurt convinced Thad to let Sebastian push him out to the woods as Kurt had planned. Sebastian had brought a book and sat in Thad's chair and waited.

Kurt and Thad made their way down the path slowly to the clearing. They sat on the bench and held hands. Kurt was first to speak.

"We came out here the first time 8 months ago. You asked me to be your boyfriend. We kissed."

"I remember. I was so nervous. You were so hesitant and afraid, but courageous. You willingly let down your walls to let me in. Walls you had painstaking built."

"I was scared, but it was worth it. So, so very worth it. You became my best friend and confidant. And my first true love."

"Mine too. We've been through so much already. You stepped up and lovingly took care of me all summer. You were so brave to take me to the apartment that first week. I know it had to be scary for you. I have never doubted your love for me since the very first time you spoke the words. I can see it in your eyes every time you look at me."

Kurt smiled.

"I have something I'd like to show you." Thad pulled a very small box out of his pocket. "I ordered these for us." Thad opened the box and showed Kurt two stainless hammered spinner rings. "I thought they were perfect for us. The description said that spinner rings help reduce anxiety by giving the person wearing them something to fidget with when they feel anxious. And the hammered design just reminded me of how many times life has already tried to knock us around, yet we trudge forward even with our outsides a little beat up and battered."

Kurt looked at the rings. "They are lovely. Sort of perfectly imperfect. They aren't identical, but they're the same. If we wear these rings, what do they mean for us?"

"I wanted to give you a physical reminder of my love. I'm offering my imperfect self to you. I love you and I promise to be faithful to you and truthful with you. I want us to have walls and defenses around us, not around me or you. You let yours down right here in these woods and you let me in, but the circumstances lately are making you think that you need to build those walls back up with me on the outside. But that's not true. We can build those walls back up if you want, but I want on the same side of the wall as you."

Kurt was visibly shaken by the analogy. "I, I want that too. I'm sorry I keep pushing you away. I've never had anyone to cling to. I'm not good at it. I'll do better."

"I understand that having someone in your corner is new for you. I just want you to know that I'm here. Always. Please run to me when you're afraid. Don't face things alone. So, will you accept the ring as the token of my love and my promise to be truthful and faithful?"

"Yes."

Thad visibly relaxed. He took Kurt ring and took his left hand and slid the ring over his thumb. Kurt used his index finger to make it spin. He smiled. "I can see how that could be relaxing. It spins really smoothly, but the texture on the top makes it easy to turn."

"I'm glad you like it." Thad put the ring he had ordered for himself back in the box and handed it to Kurt. "If and when you'd like me to wear the other ring, you can give it to me."

"I brought you out here for the same reason you bought the rings. I wanted to remind us - to remind myself - that we are strong together. We started our journey together here. I just wanted to let you know that all these months later, I love you even more. I want you to wear the other ring." He opened the box up and took the ring out. "I offer you this ring with the promise that I will be truthful and faithful and I will do my best to protect our love from outside forces that may try to drive us apart. Do you accept my offer and my promise?"

"Yes."

Kurt slipped the ring on Thad's left thumb matching where Thad had placed the one he was wearing. Kurt pulled Thad's hand to his lips and kissed his thumb where he had placed the ring. "I love you."

Thad leaned forward and kissed Kurt. "I love you."

"Shall we make our way back out and head to Sebastian's dad's?"

"Sure, but stand up first. I want to hold you close for a few minutes first."

Kurt stood up. They wrapped their arms around each other and nuzzled into each other. After a couple of minutes, Kurt lifted his head and captured Thad's lips in a gentle kiss that heated up quickly. They were breathless afterward. Kurt took Thad's left hand and Thad grabbed his crutch with his right hand.

They only saw a few birds on the way back to the edge of the wooded area. It was too late in the year for much else. But they enjoyed being someplace that meant so much to them.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian was waiting for them when they came out of the woods.

"Nice walk?" he asked.

"Perfect." was Kurt's response.

Sebastian stood up. Thad sat in the wheelchair and Sebastian pushed him back to the dorm wing of the building. The three of them had packed for the weekend already, but they needed to grab their bags from their rooms, which they did quickly.

A security guard walked Sebastian to his car and he drove up to the front steps. He and Kurt loaded all of their bags into the trunk while Thad worked on getting himself comfortable in the front seat.

Kurt climbed in the back. "I really hope that we will be coming back Monday with no casts. I can't wait to get this thing off my arm."

"Me too," Thad said.

Sebastian put a CD in and they sang on the 30-minute drive to his dad's house. They pulled up to the sidewalk and Thad stayed in the car. Kurt and Sebastian pulled their bags out and carried them to the front door. Sebastian opened the door and they went inside. The two of them carried the bags up and put them in Sebastian's room.

"So, Mr. Secret Keeping Event Planner, what is on the agenda for today?" Sebastian asked on the way back down the stairs.

Just then, Art walked into the foyer.

"Good morning, boys."

"Good morning, Dad." Sebastian replied.

"Where are you off to?"

"No idea," Sebastian said. "That's what I was trying to get him to tell me just now. He's been planning, but he's very secretive."

Art laughed. "I see. So, should I expect you back for lunch or dinner?"

Kurt answered, "Definitely not lunch. I'm not sure about dinner. How about we call you later and tell you?"

"Alright, but you are coming back tonight?"

"Definitely."

"See you later, then."

"Bye, Dad!" Sebastian said on their way out the door.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"You're going to have to tell me where we're going or I can't drive us there," Sebastian teased.

"Well, go back out to the highway and drive toward to Cincinnati. When we get closer, I'll give you exact directions."

"You're still not going to tell us where we're going?" Sebastian asked.

"Fine. There are two places. I will tell you the first one, but no amount of badgering will get me to tell you the second one."

"Okay, so..."

"We're going to the Cincinnati Art Museum."

"An art museum? You made it seem like it was some sort of place you wouldn't want people to know you had been to," Sebastian said while rolling his eyes.

"No, what I wanted was for no one to know where we are going. I just didn't want anyone to be able to let it slip, however accidentally, where we will be. I am 100% sure that there will be no neanderthals at an art museum two hours from Lima. I just wanted to make sure it stayed that way. The last time my future whereabouts were broadcast, it ended very badly for me."

"I get it," Sebastian said.

"I'm sure you've been to much nicer museums. You two have led such different lives that I have, sometimes I wonder what either one of you see in befriending the hick kid. It might be completely dullsville for the two of you."

"Hey, we've talked about this," Thad said.

"The two of you could just drive to the airport, buy tickets, and go see or do anything you want. Befriending me - well, to be honest sometimes it's a struggle to see any value in it for the two of you. You know, we can just stop somewhere around here and get some lunch and head back to Sebastian's. We don't need to drive two hours each way today."

"Sebastian, can you pull over at the next turn off?" Thad asked.

"Sure."

A few minutes later, Sebastian pulled off the highway and into the closest parking lot. Thad got out of the car, pushed the passenger seat as close to the dashboard as he could, shut the front door and opened the backdoor. He got in and shut the door.

"Okay, you can go back out and keep driving to Cincinnati."

"You got it."

Thad wrapped his arm around Kurt, who was already in the middle position so he could talk to Sebastian and Thad on the drive. It was not exactly the most comfortable thing to do with the cast on his arm. He ended up pulling his arm back and just holding Kurt's hand.

"I know that you are super tense and that you are scared that something else bad is going to happen this weekend. You were obviously having fun planning our itinerary. We weren't worried about being bored to death. I mean, seriously, you could not possibly have been planning something incredibly boring if you were excited about doing it."

"Just because I've been to some of the big name museums doesn't mean that a smaller museum won't have pieces that I'll really like," Sebastian interjected.

Kurt said, "The website says that in their European collection they have paintings by Matisse, Miró, Monet, Van Gogh, Turner, Cezanne, Degas, Renoir and quite a few others that I can't remember right this minute."

"That sounds like a nice collection," Thad said.

"It does. You really need to think about this, Kurt. Thad and I haven't seen much of anything in Ohio. You haven't seen much of anything in Ohio. Whatever you plan for us to do is going to be more interesting than sitting around inside the school or sitting in my bedroom at my dad's. Just because Thad and I might have the money to go buy a ticket to Venice, doesn't mean that we would do it for a weekend. I mean having money doesn't empty our brains of common sense. How much does it cost to get in the museum?"

"It's free."

"So, I spend what $30 in gas, $30 on lunch for all of us. So, $60 and we go see some nice art pieces and we enjoy ourselves. And wherever this second place is, does it cost to get in there?"

"No, but you can spend money there."

"Vague, but okay. What about your plans for tomorrow, do they cost anything?"

"No, tomorrow we're researching colleges."

"Right. Because we need to get that done. So, I could spend $3000 on a two-day trip to Venice to see a nicer museum by myself or I can spend $60, plus whatever I might want to buy at the second venue that sells stuff, and I can do this with my two best friends. I'm not seeing how you think I'm getting shafted," Sebastian said.

He continued. "All I can see is that people have taught you to believe that you have so little worth that your friendship has no value. Those people are wrong, Kurt. All of them."

"I keep telling him that," Thad said to Sebastian.

"Have Jeff, Nick, Trent, or Richard treated you differently since their windows were smashed in by a brick?"

"No."

"What does that tell you?"

"Umm. I hadn't thought about it."

"Well, now's your chance," Thad said.

Kurt was quiet for a few minutes. "That they don't hold grudges?"

"Bzzz, wrong answer," Thad said in a talk show voice.

"I don't know then."

Thad said, "It means that they never blamed you to start with. There's nothing to forgive or hold a grudge about."

"Oh."

"You think I forgave you," Sebastian said half as a question.

"Yeah," Kurt said. "You aren't still upset with me are you?" he asked nervously.

"Kurt, listen. I was NEVER upset with YOU to start with. No, I never forgave you because you didn't do anything that required forgiveness."

Kurt closed his eyes. No one talked for quite a while. Sebastian broke the silence when he started seeing highway signs with Cincinnati on them.

"I need some guidance."

"Oh, right. We go until the exit for Highway 42."

"Okay."

"I'll pay attention. I'm sorry."

"No need to be sorry. You needed time to think."

"I did. Thank you."

"You're welcome?" Sebastian said, not really knowing how to respond. He followed the rest of Kurt's directions and pulled into the art museum's parking lot not too much later. He turned the car off, but didn't get out.

"I have an idea."

"What?" Thad asked.

"I think we need a fealty pact."

"Why?" Thad asked.

"Because Kurt is, by nature of his life history, distrusting of people. He wants to trust us, to believe us, but his very core tells him that what he sees as a glass of water is actually a glass of vinegar."

"Not anymore," Kurt interrupted. "I don't need you two to make some kind of pact or take an oath or anything. I get it. Neither one of you have forgiven me for what happened in Lima or the school because neither one of you blamed me. If I'm not to blame, then I don't need forgiven. I knew you SAID you didn't blame me, but I blamed myself, so I mistakenly assumed that you did too, but just didn't want to say that you did for fear of making me feel even worse."

"Enough convoluted blame taking," Thad said. "I do not blame you. I did not blame you and then change my story to make you feel better. If someone else does something mean because they are angry that you exist and that I exist, I will still not blame you. Ever."

"Exactly," Sebastian said. "You don't want us to take an oath, but does that mean you are going to take what we say to be the truth without needing to go out of our way to reassure you continuously that we enjoy your company and actually like you as a person and we don't hold you responsible for the actions of homophobes, either known or unknown to you personally?"

"Are you practicing to be a lawyer, Bas? You sound like your deposing me."

"And you sound like you're trying to deflect. Answer please." Sebastian turned back and looked at him with a grin on his face.

"I will take what you say as the truth. I'm sorry I didn't before. I didn't mean for it to come across like I thought you were lying."

"Okay, so that's settled. Thad and I are truthful with you. If we're ever actually upset with you or blame you for something, we will tell you and give you a chance to apologize or explain your actions. We aren't going to just drop you because something upsets us. Is that the kind of friends, and I use the word loosely, that you've had before?"

"I didn't really have any friends before. I had people that I knew that I thought were my friends because they were the first people who were mostly decent to me. When most people were awful or apathetic, anyone who was decent seemed like a friend at the time."

"I get that. But we aren't those people. The school is full of other people I could go attempt to befriend. I'm not short on options. I'm not your friend because I have no other choices," Sebastian said. "If I wanted to spend the weekend in Venice, there's no shortage of people at Dalton who wouldn't blink an eye at the cost. But none of them took the time to befriend the sarcastic, angry new guy. You didn't make friends with me for what I could do for you. You didn't even ask anything from me when you offered to help me. I had been nothing but a pain to you and you offered your unconditional help. You are the real deal. So, maybe there's 50 guys that would go with me to Venice at school. So what? Money doesn't buy real friends."

"You already know how I feel, Kurt." He put his thumb on the ring on Kurt's thumb.

"Alright, let's go see the art." Kurt reached over Thad and opened the back door. "Come on, out you go."

Thad maneuvered his way out of the backseat. He locked the brace in place at the knee, stepped the side, and leaned back against the car.

Kurt climbed out and in a rare display of public PDA, he leaned put his hands one on each side of Thad and leaned against him and kissed him soundly on the lips. Thad recovered quickly from his shock and kissed Kurt back.

Kurt pushed back up to standing and went around to the other side of the car and wrapped his arms around Sebastian's neck and hugged him. Sebastian was caught off guard as well, but quickly wrapped his arms around Kurt's torso and returned the hug.

"So, what was that?" Sebastian asked.

"Me accepting what you said in the car. We're friends, real friends. Friends hug, right?"

"I suppose so?"

"Well, we do. So, come on, let's go." By then, Thad had made it around the car. Kurt grabbed his hand and grabbed Sebastian's hand, and then started practically strutting across the parking lot."

Sebastian was laughing and Thad looked confused, but was smiling.

"You don't do anything halfway do you?" Sebastian asked.

"Not really."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After they left the art museum, they stopped and ate a quick lunch. Afterwards, Kurt gave Sebastian directions to their next destination.

"Jungle Jim's?" Thad asked.

"A grocery store?" Sebastian asked.

"Not just any grocery store from what I read. Let's go. Thad can ride in a motorized cart once we get inside."

They started to make their way into the store. "I'm going to have to call my dad. I'm going to want to spend an entire month's allowance in here. Look at the cheese. They have REAL cheese."

Kurt started laughing. "So, I take it that you like it?"

"I love it." Sebastian started putting different packages of cheese in the cart.

They walked and walked and walked. Thad was glad he gave in and took the motorized cart.

"I haven't had any of this in months," said as he put some kind of snack in the cart.

"Alligator?" Thad asked.

Kurt shrugged. "Maybe it's tasty? I wouldn't know," he laughed.

"Kangaroo? That just seems mean," Thad said.

"People eat deer. The DNR even has specialized hunts in overpopulated areas. Maybe the same thing happens in Australia?" Kurt said.

They continued to make their way through the store, with Sebastian being the one putting the most items in the cart. Kurt had only picked up a couple of things. He knew his budget was very tight, but he wanted to try at least a couple of things.

"I think there's like a hundred different kinds of hot sauce," Thad remarked.

"There were more types of tea than I had any idea existed," Kurt said.

"I love this place," Sebastian added. "Best find ever. Who would have thought someplace in Ohio had so many different kinds of food?"

"What are you going to do with all that cheese, Bas?"

"Eat it, of course," he laughed. "I might even be inclined to let you taste a bite of it."

"A bite?" Kurt teased.

"Well, I've been deprived of good cheese for nearly three months. It's a precious commodity," he said with a wink.

"Uh huh," Kurt teased.

"Just wait until you taste it. Then, you'll see."

Thad was laughing at them.

"Chocolate." Kurt stopped. "Look at all of the chocolate. Let's get two bars each and share them so we can try a bunch of them."

They each picked two and put them in the cart. By the time they had made it through the whole store, they had quite a lot in their cart - some drinks, some snacks, some cookies, and lots of cheese. Sebastian and Kurt started putting the items up on the conveyor after Thad had gone through. Kurt put a bar to separate his things from Sebastian's, but Sebastian removed it. Kurt looked at him questioningly.

"Finder's fee."

"What?" Kurt asked.

"It's your finder's fee. You found two really cool things for all of us to do today. You don't even have $15 worth of stuff here. I could never hire a tour guide to find me such cool things to do for less than $50. I'm getting off cheap."

Kurt rolled his eyes. He knew it was a losing battle. "Thank you."

"No, thank you," Sebastian said.

"You two are crazy," Thad said.

" _You're his boyfriend and my friend. What does that make you?_ " Sebastian asked in French.

Thad just laughed.

On their way out to the car, Sebastian called his dad to let him know when they'd be getting back and that they were bringing things to grill and that they had everything else with them that they'd need for dinner.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Art looked a little confused when Kurt and Sebastian made several trips out to the car to bring in more bags.

"Did you rob a grocery store?"

"No, but Kurt found the most awesome grocery store ever. It's huge and it has all this stuff from all over the world and I bought a bunch of French stuff that I haven't had in ages."

"I see."

Art helped get the stuff for the grill ready. He and Sebastian took it outside to cook it while Thad and Kurt stayed behind in the kitchen and prepped all of the vegetables that they had bought to make a huge chopped salad for everyone.

Sebastian came back inside and sliced up some cheese, some French bread and some fruit, and put it on a tray. Kurt put the salad and the different salad dressings that Sebastian had bought on the table. He set the table with plates and salad bowls as well. Thad put out the silverware and Sebastian followed behind with glasses. They had put the drinks in the fridge right away, hoping to get them chilled in time for dinner.

Art came in with the platter of meat and placed it on the table. Sebastian grabbed the drinks. They all sat down and enjoyed the meal together. They talked about school, football, college, the museum, and Jungle Jim's.

"I pretty much never go to Cincinnati, but the next time I do, I'm going to go see this place," Art said.

"You definitely should. I've never seen so many different kinds of food. I mean SuperWalMart has tons of food, but it's like 500 cans of the same thing. There were like a hundred different kinds of hot sauce. A bunch of different kinds of rice. It was really cool," Kurt said.

"So, where are you all thinking of applying to college?"

"Well, we're all thinking of Paris," Thad answered. "Maybe England."

"That's a surprise. I knew that Sebastian wanted to go back to Paris, but I didn't realize that you two were considering it."

"Well, I want to get away from here," Kurt said. "And Solange did the research and my French birth certificate came not long ago and I have an appointment in Miami Thanksgiving week to get my French ID card and Passport."

"I'm lost," Art said.

Sebastian explained what had gone on with the talks he had with his mom.

"I see. So, Kurt can move to France easily and go to school, but Thad?"

"He has dual US/UK citizenship," Sebastian replied.

"Well, then, that broadens the choices for all of you. If you go back to France, will you move back in with Solange or try to get a place on your own?"

"That depends on a lot of things that I can't answer yet. If the school I end up wanting to go to is not far from our place, then yes. But I don't want to have to ride the Metro, change lines three times, then take two different buses and commute for over an hour a day each way. So, we'll just have to see."

"Well, if you decide to live on your own, I will help with the expenses. We can discuss it more as you narrow down your choices. If you stay here in the States, I'll pay for your tuition, as Solange and I agreed upon when you were young."

They moved on to other topics and then to cleaning up. Once the leftover food was put away and everything was washed, they moved to the family room and watched a movie. Afterwards, the three boys headed upstairs. Thad was doing better and just required some help balancing since he couldn't bend his knee.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian showered first and finished up the reading he had left to do while Thad and Kurt showered. They came back out much more quickly than the last time.

"Thanks for the stool. It was a very helpful surprise," Thad said.

"I told my dad you needed one and he got it the other day."

"I'll thank him tomorrow."

They all got into bed and Sebastian turned the last light off on his side of the bed.

"I am so hoping that tomorrow is the last night I have to sleep with a cast on," Thad said.

"I bet," Sebastian said.

"I'm ready for mine to be gone and I've only had it on for half as long as Thad. He had his first one off for not even two months before he ended up back in that one."

"I'm sure I'll end up with some type of brace, but I'm really hoping that I can sleep with it off."

"I guess we'll find out Monday. Thanks for being willing to skip class to take us, Bas," Kurt said.

"Sure. We should look online tomorrow for some kind of interesting restaurant to try after we leave the medical center on our way back to Dalton."

"Good idea," Thad said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

By the end of the day Sunday, the three of them had narrowed their choices down to six schools each. There were a couple of small schools in the States that appealed to Kurt and Thad, one in England, and the others in Paris. Sebastian had chosen only schools in Paris so far. He didn't want to stay in the States.

Monday morning, they headed off to the medical center bright and early. Kurt and Thad had their casts removed and their arms x-rayed. Thad hadn't really thought a lot about how his arm would look from the surgery. When he saw the scar, it was somewhat bothersome, but he decided he would try some of the scar cream that Kurt had been using to see if it helped. They were both relieved to be told that they did not have to have casts put back on.

Both were fitted with removable neoprene braces with steel bars in them. Thad had to wear his all the time for 3 more weeks, except to bathe and sleep, which he was so glad about. Kurt had to wear his only during football practice and games. The doctor told them to see the team physical therapist if they had any range of motion issues.

They came back out to the waiting room with smiles on their faces. Kurt showed off his naked forearm. Sebastian laughed at him.

"What about you?"

Thad showed him the brace.

"Well, that's not so bad. It's removable at least."

"And I can sleep with it off," he said excitedly. "Tonight I am sleeping with no cast or brace for the first time in ages. And I'm playing my guitar, even if it sounds terrible since I haven't practiced in two months."

Kurt smiled at Thad. Sebastian and Thad could both tell that he was struggling not to offer Thad another unnecessary apology.

Sebastian changed the subject quickly. "So, the Thai restaurant?"

"Yes! Let's go. It looked good in the pictures. I've never had Thai food. Have you?"

"I've had it in France, but who knows if it's even remotely similar. Ethnic foods can vary so much around the home country that it's possible that this place is completely different, but I'm ready to give it a try."

They headed out and found the restaurant. They all tried something different and sample each other's choices. After they finished, they headed back to Dalton.

They arrived late enough that there was only one period left before the Warblers. Kurt and Thad opted to skip in favor of a shower. Sebastian went to class.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"So is this a purely utilitarian shower?" Thad asked while unbuttoning Kurt's shirt.

"Not particularly. I mean I do want to scrub my arm and get the dead skin off, but I'm more interested in putting my hands to other uses, like washing you and making you feel good."

"I see. Well, I'd like to do the same for you." Thad straddled the stool.

Kurt helped him get the brace off, turned the water on and joined him.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Wow. I haven't seen you in a blazer in ages." Kurt said as Thad finished up getting dressed. He wrapped his arms around Thad's waist before he managed to button the blazer.

Thad put his arms around Kurt's neck. "So much better. I've missed being able to do this." He leaned up and kissed Kurt. "There will be a lot more of that after dinner tonight."

"Mmm. I can't wait." Kurt grabbed his bag and double-checked that the new brace was in it and they headed off to the Warblers rehearsal. Kurt looked down and intentionally took Thad's hand. He pulled it up to his mouth and kissed his knuckles. He intertwined their fingers in a way they hadn't been able to do for ages. They both had contented smiles on their faces as they walked together.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After dinner, Kurt and Thad went back to their room. Kurt shut and locked the door and wasted no time in approaching Thad and undressing him.

"You know, I can do that?" Thad teased.

"Should I stop? Do you not want me to? Do you have work you need to do? I'll stop." Kurt put his hands down and went to his own closet and started taking his own uniform off.

Thad walked up behind him and put his arms around Kurt and started unbuttoning Kurt's shirt. "You can undress me whenever you want. I was just teasing." When he got the shirt completely unbuttoned, he lowered it off of Kurt's shoulders and started placing small gentle kissing all over his shoulders causing Kurt to shiver. "I love you and my goal tonight is to get you in bed for snuggles and kisses."

"I like that goal. I think we have some assigned reading to do though."

"Later." Thad unbuttoned and unzipped Kurt's pants and they fell to the floor, allowing Kurt to step out of them. Next Thad went after Kurt's underwear, which caused Kurt to turn and look at Thad. "You won't need those either."

"Naked snuggles?"

"Completely naked snuggles. No casts, no braces, no underwear."

"I see."

"Well, you will once I'm undressed," he teased. He divested himself of his clothes as quickly as possible. He sat on the edge of the bed and started to remove the brace. Kurt came and helped him finish up. He laid two pairs of pajama pants and Thad's brace on his desk and climbed into bed with Thad.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian knocked on their door for breakfast the next morning. Kurt opened the door and let him in. He was finishing up his tie. He and Thad grabbed their bags and exited the room. Kurt locked the door and then took Thad's free hand in his and intertwined their fingers.

"So, how was your first night's rest without casts?"

"Glorious."

"Fantastic."

Sebastian laughed. "That good, huh?"

Kurt elbowed him.

He laughed harder. "Watch what you're doing with that arm, or it will end up back in a cast," he teased.

Kurt rolled his eyes. They went through the line together as the often did, putting three meals on two trays and went and sat together to eat.

"So, the election is today," Sebastian said after they had emptied the trays and started to eat.

"Yeah, I bet my dad's nervous. I'll call him at lunch and see how he's doing."

"Will the results be done tonight?"

"If it's a landslide then yes, but since it's a three-way race, it may be really close. So, they may predict a winner tonight, but the results might not be official until tomorrow. It depends on how many mail-in ballots there are too. They all have to be counted by hand."

"I see."

They finished eating and went to all of their morning classes. Kurt called Burt at lunch and wished him luck in the race. Kurt could tell he was nervous, but hopeful. Kurt told him to call no matter the time when he found out the official results.

The Warblers' rehearsals were going well. Everyone had mastered the dancing and they looked really good. They continued to work and fine tune their performance.

Football practice was the same as always - tiring. Thad waited for Kurt to redress after practice and they went to dinner together. Sebastian and some of the other Warblers were already sitting together and Kurt and Thad joined them.

Some of them were talking about their Thanksgiving plans. Kurt and Thad had only told Sebastian and he knew not to bring it up. He talked about having his first traditional Thanksgiving dinner and was looking forward to the food, if not the company since he'd be going to some relative of his father's for the day.

Kurt checked his phone to get an update on the election results. It was close still, but Burt was ahead. Kurt smiled and put his phone back in his pocket. Kurt hadn't talked about his dad running for election, so he didn't say anything.

The topic changed from Thanksgiving to a Warblers victory party after sectionals, if they won. They decided to bring it up in rehearsal tomorrow for a full vote.

After dinner, everyone went their separate ways. Kurt and Thad completed their assignments and got ready for bed. After their snuggle experiment last night, they decided that was their favorite way to sleep.

Kurt got a phone call at about 3:00 in the morning from a very excited Burt. He had won the election.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The rest of that week went smoothly. Classes, rehearsals, practices. Friday came and the game was held in Columbus again on a neutral field. This time it was the Regional Semifinals. The coach kept Kurt and Thad under the watchful eye of the biggest guys again, as usual.

The one thing Kurt hated about these away games was that a lot of the schools had open locker rooms like McKinley and he felt very self-conscious. He did his best to keep to himself and be as quick as possible to redress. None of the guys on the team ever hassled him, which was a relief.

They won their game again. They were advancing on to the Regional Finals the next week.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The week leading up to the Regionals Finals was tough for Kurt. It seemed that the teachers were all determined to stuff as much homework as possible into the week before Thanksgiving break. Plus, he had Warblers' rehearsal and football practice. He was edgy and starting to fray at the seams. He really wanted football season to end, and he really wanted the Warblers to win.

Friday finally arrived and they played hard and beat the opposing team by just 2 points - 28-26. For the first time in ages, Dalton was moving on to the State Quarterfinals game, which meant that Kurt and Thad's Florida vacation was going to be cut short by three days. Thad had gotten tickets that could be changed if necessary, so he called and made the changes. They'd be flying back in Friday morning.

Kurt had gone to the guidance counselor during lunch the previous week and had asked for members of the security detail to come with them to Sectionals. His request was granted. Two teachers and two security staff members traveled with the Warblers to Sectionals.

Kurt was never more than a few feet away from one of the security guards. The other kept tabs on Sebastian and Thad. The competition was held at a high school in Akron. They competed against Carmel and several other choirs in the Northeast Ohio area.

They took the stage and took their places for "King of Everything." Kurt's voice soared out loud and clear. Their harmonies were right and they stayed on pitch. All of their dance rehearsals paid off as they stayed in sync. They ended the song in the position to start "Thank You," by Boys II Men. It was their group number, which the crowd loved. Their last song was N Sync's "It's Gonna Be Me" with Sebastian on lead.

The song started out with David, Jeff, Sebastian, Kurt, and Nick standing in a straight row in front of the group. As the vocalizations for the intro started, they moved up into the V formation that N Sync used for the video for the song. The five of them learned the dance and pulled it off. All the energy and flair that N Sync had in the video was displayed up on the stage. The audience was on their feet within a few words of the song. They received thunderous applause and cheering.

Burt, Carole, and Art had all came to watch them perform even though the competition was held so far away, but the guys hadn't seen them anywhere.

They watched as many of the other groups perform as they could. Some were really good. They were called to the stage as one of the three finalists. They waited through the speech that was given. The announcer read off the Warblers as the winners. They remained composed. The council members walked to the announcer and David carried the trophy back to the group.

As soon as the curtain's closed, they jumped up and down, hugged, and hive-fived each other. The group filed off stage and down to the auditorium to see their families before they headed back to their mini bus to go back to school.

Kurt, Thad, and Sebastian went over to talk to their familes to find Sam and Finn, as well.

"Spies. You brought spies," Kurt said as he hugged Sam.

"You know it." Sam said. "We are definitely spies. And our report is going to be met with great unhappiness. You guys were AWESOME."

"You really were," Finn agreed. "You look really happy."

"I am."

They continued to talk for a few minutes. The Warblers stayed for about 10 minutes, and then headed out to their minibus and headed back to Dalton.

In rehearsal, they had decided to hold off on a celebration party until after Thanksgiving because so many people had tickets to fly out that evening, including Thad and Kurt.

Kurt and Thad had already packed their bags and were ready to go. Sebastian offered to drive them to the airport, even though it wasn't on the way to his dad's. They took him up on his offer.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad and Kurt flew into Orlando and took the shuttle to Disney World. They stayed in the All-Star Movies resort. They spent the next three days enjoying the different parks. They got a motorized scooter for Thad. Kurt went ahead and wore his arm brace due to the crowds. He didn't want to get bumped and fall without it on.

Before they left, Thad insisted that Kurt get some type of shirt as a souvenir. He picked a short-sleeved white button up with tiny muted dark gray Mickeys on it. Thad chose a dark gray polo style shirt with a small Mickey on the left chest area.

They headed to the condo Tuesday evening since it was nearly a four-hour drive. They wanted to make sure that Kurt would definitely be on time the next morning for his appointment in Miami.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After much paperwork and question answering, including proving that he spoke French fluently by being interviewed in French, his application was approved.

Thad was waiting for him when he came out and could tell that it had gone well, despite how long he'd been gone. They went back out to the rental car and headed back to the condo. Kurt described the whole process while he drove.

They stopped on the way back to the condo to pick up lunch since they hadn't been out grocery shopping. Not long after they had gotten back, there was a knock at the door. Kurt went to open the door and quickly responded "thank you" and shut the door back before Thad could see.

"Well, I have a surprise for you. I know how disappointed you were that we wouldn't be able to hang out on the beach this time since you have to wear the brace and you can't get it wet and don't want it full of sand."

"Right." Thad was finally close enough to the door to open it. "Awesome!" he exclaimed as he saw a beach wheelchair sitting on the front porch.

"I asked your parents to rent it for you until we leave. We can go down to the beach now. You can just leave the brace off and I'll push you."

Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck. "You are the most amazing person ever. Thank you. I didn't even know those could be rented."

"It's amazing what a smart phone can do for you these days," Kurt said as he pulled Thad closer and kissed him.

"No, it's cool what an amazing person with a smart phone can do these days. Let's change."

They just changed right in the living room since getting up and down the stairs was such a pain just to change. Once they were dressed for the water, Thad sat in the chair and he took the brace off his leg and then his arm. They left them behind and headed for the beach. The wheelchair was surprisingly easy to push in the sand compared to what Kurt had expected. They went up and down the beach talking and just relaxing.

Thad saw the old Kurt come back while they were in Disney the first day. Once he could get him away from Ohio, that joy-filled, cheerful person he fell in love with came back. He really wished he knew of a way to keep Kurt out of Ohio without having to give up Dalton and their friends. It was a totally impossible wish, but it was there nonetheless.

Later that afternoon, they were back in the condo and cleaned up from their beach excursion snuggling on the couch, just wearing shorts.

"Do you want to get dressed the rest of the way and go out and go shopping for food or did your parents authorize two days of delivery?"

"Actually, they said we could do whatever we wanted so long as we relaxed and had fun."

"You have the weirdest parents," Kurt laughed. "You've seen the way my dad acts. At least he finally has stopped treating me like a 12 year old girl."

"So, does that mean he's no longer afraid I am going to steal your virtue?"

"I don't know what it means other than my stepmother has a lot of influence, all good from what I've seen so far," Kurt laughed. "All those stories about wicked stepmothers are totally not accurate for me. Mine is awesome. No more talk of parents. More kissing."

Kurt moved Thad until he was flat on his back and straddled him and started kissing his neck and down his chest. "Anyway, there won't be any stealing involved. I love you and when we're ready, it will be a mutual decision."

"You're afraid you'll hurt me, aren't you?"

"Yes. And that's not going to happen." Kurt continued his kisses.

Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt's back and pulled him down onto his chest. "I'm not going to break that easily. Lie on me."

Kurt lay down and slid his knees down so he was no longer kneeling, but not putting any of his weight on Thad's left leg. Thad ran his hands up and down Kurt's back gently. "There. See. I'm fine. My ribs healed ages ago. Yours have been banged up and you didn't give yours time to heal before you went back to playing football. So, it if doesn't hurt you, it's not hurting me."

"Okay. I just never want to hurt you."

"You aren't. This feels amazing. I've wanted to hold you close for so long."

Kurt pushed up on his elbows so he could kiss Thad again. "This okay?"

"Mmm hmm," Thad took advantage of Kurt's position and started kissing him.

Thad's stomach started growling. Kurt laughed. "I think your stomach wants you to do something besides kiss me."

"It should mind its own business," Thad said kissing Kurt again.

Kurt laughed and moved his kisses away from Thad's lips and down his chest. He pulled back up into kneeling and placed tickling kisses on Thad's stomach. "I can't starve you. If you don't eat, you'll eventually get too tired to kiss me," Kurt said looking up at Thad batting his eyelashes and play-acting with a pout on his face.

"Fine, fine. My stomach wins. Let's go out and eat Cuban food. There's no point in having food delivered. We can do that at school. Let's go out and have fun."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They returned from their delicious dinner out with a few things they picked up on the way back to eat for breakfast. They ordered salads to bring home with them from the restaurant because they weren't certain what would be open on Thanksgiving.

After they put the food away, Thad said, "I want to sleep upstairs tonight, even though it will be slow going to get up there. I'm a lot stronger and I think we can do it."

"Okay. Let me run our stuff up there first and then I'll go up behind you in case you need a little help with your balance."

They made it up the stairs by going very slowly.

"Why did you want to sleep up here?"

"Well, I like cuddling up, but I wanted to be able to spread out a little tonight. I'd like us to take a nice hot shower and then give each other massages. I'm certain I can do it. I've been working on a lot of things in physical therapy while you've been practicing."

"Alright. I'm up for anything that doesn't hurt you." Kurt kissed him gently and they undressed.


	12. Chapter 12

"If we live in a dorm for college, I'm going to figure out a way to store the twin mattresses and put a bigger bed in the room for us to sleep in together," Thad said.

"We still sleep on each other in bigger beds," Kurt said.

"I know, but I like sleeping on you in the middle of a big bed."

"I like you sleeping on me period." Kurt ran his hands up and down Thad's back gently. He kissed the top of his head. "How about I go down and bring our breakfast back up?"

"Mmmkay. In a bit. I don't want to move yet."

They ended up falling back asleep and not waking up until almost 10:00.

"Roll over. Mother Nature isn't going to let me lie in this bed any longer." Thad moved and Kurt went to the bathroom. When he came back, Thad was putting his brace on so he could do the same.

Kurt ran downstairs and grabbed their breakfast and came back up to find Thad back in bed with the brace back off, leaned back against the headboard. Kurt handed him a spoon and the carton of yogurt and put the fruit on the nightstand.

"It's raining," Kurt said. "Not hard, but we'll have to wait for it to blow over before we can go back out to the beach."

"It's okay. We had a good time out there yesterday. We knew that we'd spend more time doing non-beach things."

"Like you playing your guitar for me?"

"I could do that."

Kurt grabbed the spoons and trash and took it downstairs and brought Thad's guitar back upstairs with him. He took it out of its case and handed it to Thad. Thad took it, tuned it and started to play the song he had composed the last time they were in Florida.

Kurt closed his eyes and listened. When Thad finished, Kurt said, "Mmm. I love that one."

"That's the first one I wrote for you."

"Really? I didn't know it was for me."

"I didn't know you didn't know. I wrote it for you the last time we were here. You heard me finishing it when you came outside that morning."

"Well, it's beautiful and it makes me smile every time I hear you play it."

"Which makes perfect sense because the name of the song is 'Smile.'"

"Really?"

"Really. Everywhere we had been you just lit up with joy and your smile was just incredible. And it made me feel so full of contentment and so peaceful. And it still does. Every time. Every single time you look at me, even from across the room, and you smile at me, this sense of peace just flows through me."

"That's the way that song feels, you know. I don't know how you do it. I've never been able to compose anything really. I can do arranging because I can hear the harmonies, but actually creating new music, it's this mystery to me. I love hearing you play. I'll always be your number one fan."

"That reminds me. I need to get my songs sent off to the place that did the printing of my arrangements. I also need to figure out which songs to use for my audition pieces to send in for the college applications."

"Which reminds me that I need to get flyers made and hang them up at Crawford County Day for the Yule Ball. Surely some of them have procrastinated and want a handmade Victorian-inspired dress for the dance. I need something new to add to my design portfolio. And once I get a girl, I can rope her date into letting me design his costume as well. The power of female persuasion."

Thad laughed. "Do you not want to go? You aren't mentioning making a costume for yourself."

"I hadn't really considered going. I can think of more fun things we could do for $600 than expensive costumes and tickets to a dance."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, of course. We could go see another show in New York. We could go to Niagara Falls, which is about 5 hours from Westerville. We could go to the Great Smoky Mountains, which is about 7 hours from Westerville."

"I see that you've actually been thinking about this."

"I'm always thinking about a lot of things."

"I know. One of the many things I like about you."

"Anyway, I want to make two outfits for the ball, but if I had $600 I didn't desperately need for something, I'd go do one of those other things. Probably one of the last two, since I have been to see one show already and I've never seen mountains or a waterfall."

"We'll get flyers up as soon as we ask if there are any Warblers whose girlfriends are looking for a handmade costume. If we can find someone that way, it will be easier to get the girl to come to Dalton for the fittings and you won't have to go traipsing off to Crawford with a dress in tow."

"Good idea. I had hoped to have a decent part in a theater production to put in my CV, but since Dalton doesn't put on plays, that's been impossible since I can't leave campus anymore very easily."

"Dalton does put on plays. There will be one this spring. The auditions will be right after winter break."

"There wasn't one last year."

"They have one every other year. It takes a lot of coordination to get the rehearsals and stuff set because the girls from Crawford County Day play all the female parts and they have to travel to Dalton for the rehearsals."

"Do you know what's been chosen?"

"Nope, but we might be able to find out when we get back."

"Excellent. Even if we haven't performed yet, if I get a good role, I can put it on the CV before I send everything in. Will you audition?"

"Probably not. If it's a musical, I'll audition to play my guitar if there are any guitar parts."

Kurt pouted.

"Fine," he tipped Kurt's chin up. "I'll audition if there's a role that's suitable for a guy with a brace on his leg that walks with a crutch."

Kurt smiled.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They used the beach wheelchair to head back down to the beach once the rain let up. Kurt helped Thad out of the chair and they sat at the edge of the surf talking for quite a while. Watching the water ebb and flow was so relaxing. For Thad it was like watching the stress leave Kurt just a little more each time the waves came up and washed back.

Thad was staring off thinking about so many things at once, he had zoned out. When the surfed rolled up, Kurt slid his arm across the water just right and splashed him.

"Gotcha'."

Suddenly he was startled back to the present by water being splashed all over him. Thad jumped

Kurt started apologizing. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you didn't see me start to splash you. I thought you were looking right at me."

Thad leaned toward him and turned his face toward him and kissed him. "It's fine. I just zoned out for a minute. I'm not upset. Let's move up away from the water just a little bit and build sandcastles."

"Okay." Kurt got up and grabbed the bucket and tools. He dropped the tools where they would build. He helped Thad move back about 10 feet. He filled the bucket up a few times and got the sand wet near Thad and they started building.

When they finished, Kurt wiped his hands very carefully on a towel. He got his phone out of the pouch and took some photos of their castle and a few selfies of them with the castle. It was a rare shot of Kurt in just his swimming trunks with no hat. He had taken the swim shirt and hat off for a while to get a little sun. Kurt packed his phone back up and packed the sand toys up too.

"Let's walk up the beach that way for a while," Thad suggested.

"Sure."

They worked together and brushed as much sand off of Thad as possible and got him back in the chair. They strolled along talking and eventually headed back toward the condo.

The whole process of getting the sand off Thad outside was hard. Kurt hadn't really considered the technicalities of it beforehand. The beach wheelchair wouldn't fit through the backyard gate. So, he had to get Thad into the shower without the help of Thad's brace or the chair. By the time they had showered outside and inside, Kurt was really glad that he didn't have to cook and that they had brought food home the night before.

They ended up napping for a bit before they ate and snuggling up and watching a movie afterwards. They did exactly as they were told and they relaxed. Thad held Kurt after the movie ended. He studied and memorized the relaxed and peaceful look on Kurt's face has he slept in his arms. After a while, he kissed him awake, knowing that they would both regret actually sleeping in that position.

Thad put his brace on while Kurt checked the doors and turned the lights off. Thad went up first with Kurt following right behind him. They showered and got in bed, sleeping as they liked, no clothes, in the middle of the bed, tangled up together.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Friday morning, they got up early and did the things they hadn't done the night before. They packed, washed the sheets and Kurt remade the bed. They hadn't bought anything to eat since they knew they'd be heading right out to the airport. The taxi pulled up right on time and they headed to the airport. They checked in and went and ate breakfast in the food court and went browsing through the airport bookstore until they could board their plane back to Columbus.

They took a shuttle back to the school and made their way through an eerily empty school to their dorm room. A security guard had met them at the front to let them in. The school hadn't made it to the State Quarter Finals in so long they didn't really have much of a plan in place for the football team. The cafeteria was closed for the break. The school stocked the kitchen on the third floor of the dorm building with breakfast foods and sandwiches for lunch on Saturday and Sunday and left it up to the students to fend for themselves for dinner, with the proviso that all deliveries be made to the front door of the building only.

The players all met at the bottom of the dorm stairs on the first floor to be escorted through the main building to the athletic wing at 4:00 for practice. They warmed up, went through plays both reviewing and physically practicing some of them. Afterwards, they all loaded into the bus to head into Columbus for the Quarter Final game. They stopped on the way and ate.

They played well and the game was neck and neck all the way through. Just a few minutes before the end of the fourth quarter the score was 24-28, four touchdowns each, the opposing team scored a fifth touchdown, putting them ahead by 2 points at 30-28. Dalton didn't have time to score again. They had lost. Kurt was both sad and glad. He was very competitive and wanted to win, but he was glad that the football season was finally over and he would have time to focus on other things.

A celebratory dinner, like the one the Warblers had had, was scheduled for the Tuesday evening after break. When they got back to the school, the coach asked Kurt and Thad to leave their letter jackets behind because he knew they couldn't take them off campus to have the new patches put on. Thad was confused as to why the coach wanted his jacket and all he got was a "you'll see" response.

Kurt cleaned his locker out. All the players had to wait until everyone that was staying at the school was ready to be escorted back to the dorm wing. They were all reminded that they were to stay in the building until Sunday afternoon when the rest of the staff would return along with the students.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"So, that's that," Kurt said as he shut the door behind them and locked it. "The end of my illustrious football career."

"You'll be a Dalton legacy for ages to come. A story that will be told to all who will listen."

"Ha ha."

"No, seriously. You didn't miss a single field goal attempt this year. Do you have any idea of how unusual that is?"

"Actually, no. I'd never even watched a whole football game. I'm not even sure I have now. In between kicking, I'd daydream about singing or something else more exciting than football. I've never paid attention to a single stats related conversation about a sport in my life."

"Well, it's pretty amazing. How many scouts have contacted you?"

"Zero."

"You can't be serious."

"No one has approached me."

"That's really weird. I would have thought that at the very least Ohio State and some of the larger colleges in Ohio would have sought you out."

"It doesn't matter. I wasn't going to play for them anyway. This season had a purpose. I did this to stay here. I have no interest in repeating my record."

"Well, it will stand here at Dalton for a long, long time."

"Let's shower. I skipped showering at the stadium. Open showers. Awful." Kurt started undressing and dumping everything he had on in his laundry basket. "We need to do laundry tomorrow."

"Let's order a pizza before we get in the shower. That way we won't have to wait so long to eat."

"Go ahead. Get whatever. I'm starving."

Thad ordered and then went into the bathroom. Kurt had already started. When he saw Thad come in, he turned the water off, let Thad sit on the stool, and then took his brace and put it on the sink. Then, he turned the water back on and resumed what he was doing. They finished up quickly and Kurt put on sweats so he could meet the pizza delivery guy when he called.

About 10 minutes later, Thad's phone rang. Kurt left and met up with the security guard standing outside the door between the main building and the dorm wing. He opened the door and told him that the pizza guy was at the front door, last name Harwood. The security officer was gone for about 5 minutes and brought their pizza back. Kurt thanked him and opened the box and offered him a piece, which he gladly accepted. Kurt took the rest back to their room.

"Did you get that hungry on the way back?"

"No, I gave the security guard a piece. It's because of me that he has to stand out there for 12 hours. I'm surprised the school isn't going to try to bill me for the cost of the increased security detail the school has had ever since the brick incident."

"I'm sure you're not the first student that has required extra security. It's probably built into the cost of the tuition. If they need money for the building or something, they'll hit up the alumni to raise money. Don't worry about it. My grandpa donated plenty of money over the years."

"Okay. I'll try to stop thinking about it."

"Let's enjoy this pizza and listen to the new book?"

"Sure. A new book is a good idea."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Monday started the beginning of a new schedule for Kurt and Thad. No more football practices opened up their afternoon schedules. The Warblers met for the first time since they had won Sectionals.

Kurt raised his hand to be given permission to speak. "If I may, I have a brief announcement that has nothing to do with the Warblers. I am currently seeking out a couple that is looking for someone to design coordinating outfits for the Yule Ball. I will need to get started soon and it will be first come, first serve. Thank you." He sat down.

The group decided on a trip to a local Chinese buffet to celebrate their Sectionals win on Wednesday for dinner.

David called the group back to order. "The headmaster has requested a small group of us to perform a few pieces at the Yule Ball this year. These pieces will be period pieces and are not pop style songs at all. They will be sung as they were written. Anyone interested in seeing the pieces that have been chosen can view them on the piano. After you've looked at them, if you are still interested, please sign up on this sheet. We'll have auditions if too many people sign up. We will not be performing a cappella, but with the school orchestra, mostly strings, I believe."

Trent added, "Those who choose to participate, do not have to dress in period clothing. The school will provide plain black robes, similar to graduation robes or church choir robes for the singers to wear. Black slacks and shoes will be required."

David dismissed the group to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the period. Kurt and Thad looked at the music on the piano. And they both signed up to sing. Sebastian signed up as well. Kurt followed him and sat down next to him.

"I missed you this morning in French."

"Our plane was delayed and we didn't land until 9:00. By the time I got my luggage and stuff and my dad drove me here, I missed all of my morning classes."

"That stinks."

"Yeah, now I have to get someone's notes."

"Are you busy tomorrow after dinner?"

"Not that I know of."

"Well, the football team is having their award ceremony after a dinner in the cafeteria. We are allowed to invite our families, but I want you to come, if you want. I mean I know it will be boring, but will you come?"

"Sure."

"It's at 6:30 in the auditorium. I don't think it will last long, but there's a reception afterwards. Maybe the desserts will make it worth listening to the speech?"

"I already said I'll come. You don't need to try to bribe me." He rolled his eyes and bumped into Kurt's shoulder. "So, you sing classical music?"

"I'm sure I can. I've never tried really. There was no need for it before this. But I'm interested in giving it a shot. You?"

"I trained classically in Paris. I haven't been taking lessons here though. I've been missing my dance lessons too. I've been thinking that the prize money you guys won last year might be well spent on hiring a dance instructor to come to the school and give lessons twice a week. I don't think it would cost that much and some of the guys really, really need some lessons. We tell them kick-ball-change left and they look at us like we're speaking Greek."

"I think that's a great idea. Why don't you go talk to Trent, David, and Thad. They can bring it up to the group tomorrow or give you the chance to bring it up yourself."

"I'll do that." He got up and walked up to the front table to talk to the council.

When Sebastian got up and walked away, David got up from the council table and approached Kurt. "I want first dibs on talking to you about making costumes." He quickly walked back to the table and listened to what Sebastian had to say.

The final bell rang a few minutes later and everyone left.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"We haven't been back to our room this early since last May. It feels really weird to come here instead of going to football practice."

"I still have to go down there from 4:00 to 5:00 for physical therapy on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

Kurt unlocked their door and they went inside. He locked it behind them.

"I'll go with you and do some of the exercises I've been doing for football. I wouldn't want to completely lose my buff muscles," Kurt said as he pretended to flex giant muscle mag worthy biceps.

Thad pushed him against the door this time, tossing his crutch over onto their bed. "Those biceps are hot. Don't be dissing those lovely arms of yours." He kissed him pinning him to the door. "You are totally hot." Thad ran his hands down Kurt's sides and untucked his uniform shirt and ran his hands along Kurt's skin. "Totally hot."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Tuesday during the Warblers, Sebastian brought up the idea of dance lessons for the group. They voted and decided that it was a good idea. Trent was placed in charge of finding someone to come in and teach the class.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The football team dinner was pretty much the same as the Warblers dinner the spring before. The team all sat together wearing their blazers. After a rousing round of applause they all moved to the auditorium where they were photographed with their First Place Regionals Trophy. They were all seated and the people that had come to see the awards were let into the auditorium.

Sebastian came in and sat down behind Kurt and Thad.

Kurt whispered, "Thanks."

Sebastian nodded.

Coach Moreland got up and started talking about different members of the team. Who had thrown the farthest pass. Who had run the longest distance. Who had the most blocks, tackles, all sorts of things. Kurt was barely paying attention. There was a slideshow to show off some of the skills that were being praised. Thad nudged Kurt. He looked up and saw his picture on the screen.

"This year's MVP is our kicker Kurt Hummel."

Kurt wasn't sure what to do.

"Kurt, please come up to the stage."

He did.

"Kurt persevered through a difficult season playing with bruised ribs and a broken arm while recovering from a concussion. He never let us down. He is the first kicker in the history of football at Dalton to have a perfect field goal record for the season. His field goals were the difference between us winning and losing on more than one occasion this season. He will be sorely missed, as he will be graduating this spring. Congratulations, Kurt." The coach handed him a trophy.

Kurt was expected to say something, but he had no idea what. He stepped forward to the mic. "Thank you, Coach. I'd like to thank the sophomores on the team that have retrieved footballs innumerable times during practice and special thanks to Rogers and Donnelly for doing such a fabulous job of keeping me from becoming a red and blue smear on the field. Without their perfect record of keeping me safe all season, I wouldn't have been in any shape to kick field goals." He nodded at the two of them and backed way from the mic.

Coach nodded. Kurt returned to his seat.

"This year we have an unusual award to give out. I'd like Thad Harwood to come up on stage." While Thad was moving to get up to the stage, the coach continued speaking. "Thad came to me wanting to help with the team last spring. After his accident, he was unable to do the job I had originally assigned him to. I asked him to take over as statistician. What I got in return was phenomenal. He created new spreadsheets with functions and daily printouts for me to use to track the team's progress. The data that he kept track of allowed me to focus in on our weak points and practice until they were no longer problematic. It is my hope that one of the younger members of the student staff will be interested in learning Thad's method and continue to use it to help the team next season."

The coach handed Thad a trophy. "It's never been done before, but this year, we have our first non-playing team member to be an official member of the varsity football team due to his dedication to improving the team through keeping thorough stats. Congratulations, Thad. And thank you."

Thad stepped forward. "I really don't know anything to say but 'you're welcome'. I did what you asked to the best of my ability and I'm glad that it was helpful to you and the team." He stepped back from the mic.

The coach nodded.

Kurt stood and walked up the stairs and helped Thad back down. They went back to their seats.

"I'd like for all of the varsity players to meet up on the stage briefly. Thanks to everyone who came this evening to celebrate with us. There are refreshments set up in the lobby.

The team members moved to the stage, but before they got very far, the coach was giving them instructions.

"Leave your blazers in your seats. Your letter jackets are up here on a table. Please find yours and arrange yourselves for another photo." He saw that Thad was waiting for Kurt. "Thad, you too. Up here for the photos."

Kurt went over to the edge of the stage and waited for Thad. They walked back together to find their jackets. Kurt picked Thad's up. It had a varsity football on the sleeve and instead of a number, it said "Stats" and it had the East Central Ohio Regionals Champions patch on it like the rest of the varsity team member's jackets. Kurt found his and below the Champions patch, his had a 2011-2012 MVP badge. They put their jackets on and went to line up for the photos. Several photos were taken. Kurt and Thad were asked to stay behind with the others that had won special awards. They had their photos taken individually. Once they were released they went out to the lobby to join the rest of the players and guests.

Kurt was surprised to find Sebastian standing and talking to his dad and Carole. Coach Moreland must have contacted them. Kurt and Thad walked over to where they were standing. His dad practically grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. "Congratulations, kiddo! MVP. That's fantastic!"

"Thanks, Dad. I had no idea. Sorry I didn't invite you. I didn't think driving three hours in one day for 30-minute awards ceremony seemed reasonable."

"Well, I think your coach knew that you didn't expect anything to happen and he invited us himself."

"Congratulations, Kurt," Carole said as she hugged him next. "You did an amazing job this year."

"Thanks. Did you guys want to get some dessert or coffee or something? We can get in line and go sit at the tables over there."

"Sure, sure. Lead the way," Carole said. "Congratulations to you too, Thad. You must have created some amazing stats sheets."

"I just did what I was asked to do. Maybe I combined things in a way that the previous records keepers didn't? I guess I'll find out more when Coach has me teach my replacement how do to what I've been doing. I certainly didn't expect my number crunching to make me an integral part of the team's victory."

Sebastian was sort of hanging back. "Sebastian, come on," Kurt said. He smiled and moved closer to Kurt and Thad.

Carole was doing her best to keep a conversation going. "Do you play a sport Sebastian?"

"Lacrosse. It's a spring sport. So, practices will start in February or March I guess. I'm not quite sure. I'm assuming we'll start training inside since it's my understanding that it still snowing here in February and early March."

"I sure hope so," she said. "Training outside would be awful that time of year. Brr."

They went through the line selecting desserts and drinks. They found an empty table where they could all sit together.

"What will you do with all your free time now?" Burt asked.

"Oh, well, I'm making David and his girlfriend costumes for the Yule Ball, on commission. But I'm doing it to add to my portfolio for colleges. I'm taking their measurements and starting the drawings tomorrow after Warblers practice."

"That sounds complicated," Carole said.

"Well, it wouldn't be something to showcase my design skills if I made something easy," he laughed.

"I guess not," she said.

"I figured I've been spending about two hours a day at football practice so I should have about 24 hours to put into the costumes before the ball. If it seems like I can't get them done, I can spend Saturday and Sunday the weekend before the ball putting in extra hours on them."

"What about you, Thad? Any plans for all of your new free time?"

"Yeah, I'm double-checking all my compositions for any mistakes and making sure they are super neat because I'm sending them off to get them professionally printed. The Warblers had my arrangements printed by a company and gave me a copy for my birthday. I'm going to use the same company for my original songs. It's for my college portfolio as well. It will look a lot better to turn them in professionally printed rather than hand done."

At that very moment, Kurt knew what he wanted to get Thad for Christmas.

"I bet it's really neat to see something you've composed professionally printed."

"It really is."

"Any idea what you want to study, Sebastian?" Carole asked.

"Well, I had falsely assumed that I was expected to become a lawyer like my grandfather and my dad, but since my options are suddenly wide open, I'm honestly not sure at all. I have a couple of months left to look through programs and I'm going to take some tests that the guidance counselor suggested to see if anything strikes my fancy."

"When will you have to be in DC, Dad?"

"Not until the beginning of January. But I have a lot I'm learning between now and then."

"I bet. There are probably tons of rules and procedural things to learn."

"There are. Can we go for a walk, Kurt?"

"Sure, Dad."

"We'll be back in a few minutes," Burt said.

Carole nodded. She continued to engage Thad and Sebastian in conversation.

"Son, I really missed you at Thanksgiving. Are you going to come home for Christmas at all?"

"No. I just can't. I don't want the house targeted, my SUV targeted, myself targeted. None of that. Thad and I haven't decided between Florida and Seattle yet. If you want to talk to Carole about spending part of the holiday in Florida we can talk to Thad's parents about when they could come and see if we can manage to have you stay at Thad's condo with us, so you'd just have the expense of flying to Miami. But I'm not going back to Lima."

"What did you do for Thanksgiving?"

"Relaxed. Thad's parents paid for me to rent a beach wheelchair that allowed me to push Thad out onto the sand and we went for walks on the beach like that. We went to Disney World the first three days we were there. That was Thad's 18th birthday present that he didn't get to do on his birthday back in August because he hadn't healed enough to go. He used a motorized scooter in Disney World. Other than that, we just mostly hung out at his house in Florida. We didn't do a big meal or anything. It was just the two of us. We actually had this huge delicious salads from a Cuban restaurant that we had brought back with us the night before because we weren't sure anything would be open Thanksgiving Day."

"I'll talk to Carole about Florida. The question is what to do with Finn if we go to Florida."

"I don't know, Dad. He and I don't talk."

"Did you ever read the letter he wrote you?"

"Honestly, no. I was too upset at the time still. I'll psych myself up and read it. I'm not sure what to say though. Thad's house in Florida just has one bedroom. Thad and I will be sleeping in the living room whenever his parents are there. I'm not sure where Finn would sleep if you and Carole take the bedroom when you're there. There is only the floor left. Let me know when you have to be in DC officially and I'll see what I can do."

"Let's get back inside." They went back in and sat back down at the table. "It was nice to see you boys. We're going to need to head back before it gets any later. Carole has to work tomorrow morning."

"Thanks for coming. It was a big surprise to see you. A nice one," Kurt said. He hugged both of them and they waved as the walked off.

"Well, that was surprising. Do either of you want anything else?"

They both shook their heads. Kurt grabbed Thad's trash as well as his own and tossed it. The three of them headed toward the auditorium doors to go back into the school building to get to the dorm wing. Once they got to Kurt and Thad's room, Kurt stopped Sebastian from walking off.

"Come on."

"I'll come back in a few minutes. I want to shower and change."

"Okay," Kurt said. "Well do the same. Come back in 30 minutes."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt let Sebastian in and he made himself at home on the extra bed.

"So, what's up?"

"Well, first of all, thanks for not saying anything about going back to France for college. I am not ready to have that conversation with my dad. He knows nothing about me obtaining my French ID card or Passport."

"I figured he didn't."

"Secondly, we need to get Christmas figured out. That's what my dad took me out on a walk to talk about. He was upset that I skipped out on Thanksgiving and that I'm not going home for Christmas either. I think he must have thought I was exaggerating about not going back to Lima ever. But I know that the three of us want to spend time in Florida at Christmas and I know that Thad's parents were going to try to make it at some point and now my dad wants me to spend some time with them and I have no idea how Finn fits into that plan."

"I'll call my mom right now and see what they've figured out." Thad stepped into the bathroom so that Kurt and Sebastian could keep talking.

"Thanks for coming tonight. I know it was boring."

"Hey, you won MVP. And Thad got that award. So, it wasn't completely boring and the brownies were good," he said with a smirk.

"So, you have to be here for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then you could fly to Florida right?"

"Yeah. My dad isn't going to make me go back to his mom's family Christmas thing since I went at Thanksgiving."

Thad came out of the bathroom. "So...they are planning to arrive the evening of the 23rd and stay until the evening of the 26th."

"Alright. I looked online and my dad has to be in DC on the morning of the 3rd. Did you parents say that it's okay for my parents to stay for a few days?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then I'll offer my parents the 27th-30th in the morning or afternoon. Then what about you, Sebastian? Can you come from the 30th in the afternoon until the evening of the 3rd or the morning of the 4th?"

"Let me call my dad and absolutely verify that he's okay with this." Sebastian went in the bathroom and Kurt called Carole since he knew his dad would be driving.

"Carole? Dad wanted to know about Christmas. The two of you can come and stay at Thad's house in Florida from the 27th-30th. You can fly in late on the 26th if you need to. Then you can fly back to Ohio the 30th in the morning. I know Dad has to be in DC Monday evening to be ready to go to the Congressional session Tuesday morning on the 3rd. This way you can spend Christmas Eve and Day in Lima with Finn and then come to Florida for a few days and see us."

"Sure, I can repeat it. Florida from the 27th-30th. See if you can make that work and call me back tomorrow evening, please."

"Love you too, Bye."

Sebastian came back in from the bathroom. "My dad says as long as I am home for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and at least 4 or 5 other days during the break that I can go to Florida with you two."

"Good," Kurt said.

"Now, for this weekend. Who wants to go to COSI?"

"ME!" Thad said.

"What's COSI?"

"Just say 'me', Sebastian," Thad said.

"Me?"

"Okay. Do we want to stay here or go to Sebastian's for the weekend?"

"I'm okay with either one," Thad said. "But it's more fun at Sebastian's."

"I'll call my dad back." He went back in the bathroom and came back five minutes later. "He says it's fine. There's no political anything going on at his place this weekend. And COSI is the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus."

"Good job using Google, Sherlock," Kurt deadpanned.

"Ooh, how about we go to the Spaghetti Warehouse for dinner afterwards? Maybe your dad would meet us there. Look at the food. 15-layer lasagna. I have to try that at least once," Kurt said looking at his phone. He turned it around so the other two could see.

"That looks good," Sebastian said.

"He could go to the museum with us, if he likes that kind of thing. My dad is totally not into museums, but maybe your dad is."

"I'm going to call him one more time, just ONE more time though. So, if you have anything else to ask him, think fast." Sebastian was laughing.

"Just call."

"Hey, Dad. You're on speakerphone. Do you like museums?"

"Sure, why?"

"Well, we're all going to go COSI on Saturday and we wanted to know if you want to come and then go to Spaghetti Warehouse with us."

"Are you spending the night here Friday?"

Kurt nodded.

"Yep."

"Alright then. We can go together in Kurt's Navigator since it's more roomy, so bring it instead of your car."

"Got it, Dad. We'll see you Friday evening. I'll text you later with a time." Sebastian hung up.

"Your mission is to get me and my dad to be friends. Just admit it," Sebastian tackled Kurt to the bed and started tickling him.

"Any confessions made under duress won't stand up in a court of law," Kurt reminded him through his laughter.

"You know too much."

Thad was laughing really hard by that point. "You two act like brothers who actually like each other. It's hysterical to watch sometimes."

"Well, I'd trade Finn for Sebastian ANY day."

"Thanks," Sebastian said preening smugly.

Kurt threw a pillow at him.

"Are you going to go to the Warblers dinner tomorrow?" Kurt asked Sebastian.

"I guess."

"I'm not going. I just don't trust anything that has to do with the Warblers being kept from Blaine and Blaine not blabbing it."

"I can see that after what happened in Columbus," Thad said. "If you're not going, I'm not going."

"Well, that will make the whole thing a real drag. I'm just going to stay here and get ahead on my schoolwork so I won't have any to do this weekend that Kurt is planning for us."

"You know, since you're a Google master yourself now, you could plan what we do on Sunday," Kurt teased.

"Alright, I will, but you have to do whatever it is. No complaints."

"Well, I have to be able to afford it."

"Duly noted. Either it's within your budget range or I have to pay for it myself."

"That's not what I said."

"I'm pretty sure you can afford free since that's how much it will cost if I pay for it, making it affordable for you, which totally fits within the limitations I was given."

By this point, Thad was laughing really hard again. "You two should do stand up together."

Kurt rolled his eyes. Sebastian looked proud of himself.

"If you're sleeping in here with us, get under the covers. I'm turning the lights off."

"Yes, sir, Mr. Bossy Pants, sir."

Thad was cackling by this point.

"Shush, both of you," Kurt said as he turned off the light.

"Yes, Mom," Sebastian smarted back.

Thad pulled Kurt close and wrapped his arms around him as soon as he lay down in the bed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt met with David and Katrina after Warblers practice on Wednesday. Katrina described to Kurt what it was that she wanted. She showed him several pictures, each containing part of what she wanted, but none of them being exactly what she was looking for. Kurt sketched out what she described and used the photos for reference working to meld all of the components she was looking for into a single dress.

"Yes, yes. Just like that. Can you make one just like that?"

"I'm sure I can. The question is whether or not you want to pay what it will cost. The fabric you want is quite expensive."

"I don't care. My daddy said if you can make it, he'll pay for it."

"Well, what are you looking for in David's outfit?"

Again, she described it and then showed him several photos of similar, yet not-quite-right outfits. Kurt again did his best to sketch what she was describing.

"That's close, but can you make the pants a little more like the ones in this picture?"

"Which part?"

"The bottom part that fastens around the calf."

Kurt erased part of his sketch carefully and changed it."

"Just like that. Yes. Can you make it so that his shirt is the same color as my dress?"

"I think so. I'll just need to go shopping and make sure I can find the right colors. Is it okay if I go ahead and take all of your measurements now?"

"Sure."

"What height heels will you be wearing?"

"As flat as possible and still look good with the dress. I want to actually be able to dance comfortably, so no more than an inch and a half. Character shoes heel height. I may have some dyed to match."

Kurt took a lot of measurements on both of them and wrote them down neatly. He was keeping all of the information in a separate notebook so he could detail the process to include with the portfolio if he needed to.

"Okay. I'll go into Columbus and get the material and what I need. But I'm going to need you to sign a contract that you are going to pay for the final product before I will start any work on the outfits. I will basically be spending the money I've saved to take my AP exams this spring to buy the materials. If you back out, I have no way of getting enough money to take the exams."

"I understand. It's not like you're a business with the supplies on hand."

"I'll price everything out and text you from Columbus. If you agree to the price, then I'll buy the material. I'm doing this to add to my college portfolio since there are no stage productions for me to work on before the applications are due."

"I get it. Don't worry, Kurt. We'll review the cost you send us tonight and respond quickly. Katrina's already seen the cost of the premade ones that are only partially to her liking. And we know you can't get the materials at wholesale like a business can. Here's my number. Just text me."

"One last question. Are you willing to buy the undergarment for the dress or do I need to make that for you as well? Since it doesn't really show, I figured you were probably just going to buy it."

"The ruffly slip part?"

"Yes."

"I can just order one of those. Like you said, it doesn't really show."

"Got it. I'm going to head to dinner and then to Columbus. I'll text you as soon as I can."

"Thank you, Kurt," Katrina said as they left.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad got a text from David.

To Thad: Why isn't Kurt coming to the Warblers dinner tonight?

To David: Sebastian, Kurt and I aren't going.

To Thad: Why?

To David: Can't really say, but we don't do anything in Westerville anymore.

To Thad: Oh.

Five minutes later, David sent out a mass text to all of the Warblers.

To Warblers: Change of venue. We are eating at the Chinese buffet near Minerva Park. Text for exact address if you need it.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

By the time Kurt had gotten to their room, the mass text had gone out, but he hadn't pulled his phone out of his bag to look. He opened the door, pulled his phone out, and saw the change.

"What's up with the new location?"

"David figured out you weren't going somehow. He asked why. I told him that the three of us weren't going because we don't go anywhere in Westerville, but I didn't say why."

"So, he changed the location?"

"Looks like."

Sebastian knocked on the door and Kurt let him in.

"So, are we all going now that it's not in Westerville?"

"I guess so since they changed it when David found out that the three of us weren't going to go. I need to leave now though. I told Katrina that I'd get the cost for her dress and David's outfit to them tonight. I was just going to eat here and go to Columbus to get the fabric prices afterwards, but if we're going to eat with them at 7:30, I need to get going now. You two want to come with me now or just meet at the restaurant later?"

"That's not really a fair question, you know," Sebastian asked.

"I'm sure there's a chair you can sit and read in. You don't have to look at fabric."

"We'll go," Thad said rolling his eyes at Sebastian for baiting Kurt into a non-argument again.

"Then hurry and change because I'm not going out with the two of you in your uniforms."

Ten minutes later, Kurt was escorted to his Navigator and he pulled up to pick up Thad and Sebastian.

It only took about 20 minutes to get to the fabric store Kurt wanted to visit. Thad and Sebastian looked around the store for about five minutes and then settled down to read the books they had brought with them.

Kurt found what he was looking for, sat down to calculate the cost of everything. He took some photos of the fabrics and texted them to David. It was quite a lot because the type of fabric Katrina wanted was expensive. He looked around for a little while and thought of all of the different things he could make out of the unusual fabrics the store had.

David eventually texted back and gave him the go ahead to get started on their outfits. Kurt bought all of the fabric he needed. He decided he would stop at a JoAnn Fabric to look for the buttons, trim and thread since the shop didn't really have a lot of options for buttons and trim.

They drove to the nearest JoAnn's and Kurt bought the rest of what he needed. From there, they headed to the Chinese buffet, where they all stuffed themselves and reveled in their self-congratulatory silliness as the group was prone to do. The three of them were glad that the venue was changed so that they could go out with their friends.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

On the drive back to the school, Kurt's phone rang. He had Thad answer it.

"Kurt's phone, Thad speaking. Kurt's driving."

"Oh, hello, Thad. It's Carole. I was just calling to tell Kurt that we will be able to go to Florida from the 27th to the 30th. Just tell him to call me soon so I can confirm times and get our tickets purchased."

"I'll do that."

"Bye, honey."

"Bye."

"So, from the 30th to January 3rd for you Sebastian?" Thad asked.

"Sounds good. I'll get my ticket. In and out of Miami, right?"

"Yep," Thad answered.

Sebastian pulled his phone out to look at flights.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Later that evening, once they were back in their room, Kurt remembered how he had told his dad that he would read the letter from Finn. He knew it had been wrong to hold on to it for so long, refusing to read it. But he really didn't want to read a letter full of excuses for why Finn had behaved the way he had. But he did tell his dad he would do it.

After they showered and got ready for bed, Thad had gotten into the bed to do some reading. Kurt sat down at his desk and pulled the letter out of the drawer where he had put it the day he had gotten it, nearly two and a half months prior. He opened the envelope and read it.

Dear Kurt,

Mom and Dad made me go to counseling over the summer. At first I hated it and didn't want to go. Eventually I got to like the guy and I started talking to him about a lot of things.

One of the things I talked about was you. I kept trying to tell him how it was your fault for the things that had happened to you. Every time I did that he would ask me a dumb question like - Oh since you're wearing a red hoodie and I hate the color red, I can punch you in the face right?

I was like what is this dude on?

Then I finally got it. If he hit me because he hated the red hoodie I had on it would still be his fault that he hit me. Not mine.

But it took a long time for it all to sink in. You have just been yourself all this time. You like the clothes you wear. You like the music you listen to. You like the movies you watch. It's just you being you. You just don't like the same things other people around here like.

The guy showed me some magazines and some photographs of business events and different things. We talked about clothes. He told me how utterly stupid I would look if I wore my red hoodie or letterman jacket to one of those fancy dinner parties. I told him I didn't care because I'm never going to one of those parties. He told me that it didn't matter that I wasn't going. He wanted me to think. How would your clothes look if you were in one of those photos. You would look normal. Like totally fitting in normal.

I think I finally get it. You want to be in those places. You want that to be your life. I don't. I would hate it. You have hated being here. It makes sense. I understand why you don't want to be here. You need to be wherever those photos he had were taken.

I'm sorry for all of the things I did to you and the things I let other people do. I have finally realized that my choices are my own. Every time I do or don't do something it's a choice I'm making right then. Every time I let Puck or someone toss you in a dumpster I made the choice to let that happen. Doing nothing is choosing. There is no neutral the guy told me. We're always making choices. Forward, backward, left, right. Standing still is making a choice to stay in the same spot.

He also said all choices have consequences, even the choice to stay in the same spot. I chose to do things that were hurtful to you. I chose to do things that hurt Rachel and Quinn and Sam and Santana and other people.

I still can't say that I understand being gay because I don't. But the counselor explained to me again that it's not a choice. That people's sexual orientation isn't like all of the other things that we had talked about. People don't choose. I can't understand you wanting to date guys, but I have accepted the fact that nothing is going to make you like girls instead. He said that lots of gay men have tried dating girls and even having sex with girls to change their sexual orientation. He told me about conversion therapy which sounded awful. He said those things don't work. I'm sorry I made you feel like being gay was a choice you could change. I'm glad you found someone you like. That wouldn't have happened here.

I'm sorry I tried to get you to come back here and leave Dalton. I didn't understand a lot of things. But I shouldn't have tried to make you leave where you were happy even when I didn't understand the money stuff.

Dad made me work all summer and I'm still working now just not as much. I've realized that unless I want to keep making such a low amount of money I'm going to have to learn to do something after I graduate. I have no idea what. I like it here in Lima, but I've realized that a lot of things are wrong here. I have to figure out whether leaving or staying is better.

I think this is the longest thing I've ever written that I wasn't forced to write for school.

Another thing I learned is that gay men don't want to be girls. I know that's super obvious to you. But I didn't get it. You always hung out with the girls so it seemed like you wanted to be a girl. You even called yourself an honorary girl before. But he helped me see that you probably hung out with the girls because they accepted you and the guys didn't. I mean it's because of Puck's smart mouth that you even went to Dalton in the first place. I'm glad you did because you're happy there. But when Mr. Schue assigned us the opposite challenge we should have listened to you because we would have totally won. But we're all too afraid to be on the receiving end of the bullying that we've been a part of.

I lost track of what I was writing about gay men not wanting to be girls. I get it. Just because you like fancy clothes and you like guys doesn't make you wish you were a girl. He told me about transgender people. That's got to be super hard. And not to sound mean but I'm glad I'm not transgender. I don't think anyone here would understand that when most of us don't even understand being gay.

Maybe if dad wins the election he can do something to make things better for people like so things are more fair.

I paid Miss Corcoran back for the tires. I should have done that sooner. I agreed to do it so I wouldn't end up in juvie. Puck told me how awful it was there. But then I didn't do it and that's a form of lying I've learned. Puck still owes her. I'm not sure what he's going to do. She gave him until the end of the year to start paying her back.

This is definitely the longest thing I've ever written.

I'm sorry. That's what I really wanted to say. I wish I had made them stop dumpster tossing you after the first time it happened. Maybe if I had you wouldn't have a broken arm and your boyfriend wouldn't had to have surgery and a pin in his arm for the rest of his life. And your other friend wouldn't have gotten hurt. There are a lot of things I should have done different.

The counselor says that everyone feels like that though. And that the best I can do is to start making better choices and to think about the consequences. I'm trying. I've left Rachel and Quinn alone this year. I think Blaine is a tool and a total fake. But that's Rachel's choice, not mine. I've decided not to date anyone at school. I need to figure myself out. One thing I've learned is that you seem to know who you are. I have no freaking clue. It's time to change that.

This is the end of the letter. I hope you still like Dalton. Dad says you're doing good in football. I guess I'll see you the night we play against you in October. Dad says we're going to go out for a big dinner afterwards no matter who wins. So that's something to look forward to.

Finn

Kurt handed the letter to Thad once he had finished reading it. He sat thinking about what it said while Thad was reading. Finn had grown up a lot in the last six months.

"When did he write this?"

"Two and a half months ago. Dad gave it to me the day he drove over here to tell me that he was running for office. The week after we were dumpster tossed."

"And you kept it all this time without reading it?"

"I did."

Kurt took the letter back, put it back in the envelope and put the envelope back in the drawer.

"Do you need the light on still?"

"I can read the rest tomorrow."

Kurt turned the light off and got in bed. He lay down flat on his back.

Thad asked, "So, he wrote all of that before we went to Columbus."

"Yeah. So, that makes me really sure that he's not the one that said anything to anyone about where we were going. I didn't think he would, but he seems to have actually learned something from seeing that counselor. Things that seem like common sense to me, but who was it that said common sense isn't so common?"

"Wasn't it Voltaire?"

"Whoever it said it was right. Somehow the whole concept of personal responsibility has been woefully undertaught in Lima, both at home and in schools."

"What are you going to do?"

"Actually, I'm going to call him right now. I realized when we were out tonight that wearing my football hoodie and letterman jacket aren't going to cut it now that it's going to be December tomorrow. We've been staying in the building so much and we went to Florida over break. Going out tonight was a cold blast. I need my warm clothes."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt picked his phone up out of the dock, blocked his outgoing caller ID and called Finn.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Finn. It's Kurt."

"Oh, hey Kurt."

"I read your letter tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Yeah. I was really upset and to be honest, I thought it would be full of more excuses for the way you behaved and more blaming me for your problems, but I was really surprised. I'm glad the counseling is helping."

"It's been weird, but strangely super helpful. It's nice to have someone to talk to who isn't Mom or Dad, but who's smart and grown up and can actually help without grounding me or getting mad because I did something stupid again."

"I can see how that would be helpful. Thanks for writing the letter. It means a lot to me."

"Well, I wanted you to know that stuff and I didn't know how else to tell you so I wrote it all down."

"Since you understand why I can't come to Lima anymore, I need to ask you a favor."

"What?"

"In my room in the closet, there are several boxes and there are a few things still hanging up, like some coats. And there may be some boots or shoes on the shoe rack still."

"Okay."

"I need you to pack those up and meet me tomorrow. Be really careful with my shoes though. Some of them cost like $100 a pair and now you know how long it takes to earn $100."

"Yeah, dude. I get it. I'll pack the shoes up carefully."

"Okay. Pull your truck into the garage and load the boxes in the back and bungee them down so they can't fly out while you're driving. So, keep them in a single layer, Criss-cross the bungees through your tie downs in the back. Put my coats in your passenger seat."

"Got it. Coats inside. Boxes single layered with the bungee cords criss-crossed so I don't lose any boxes."

"And do it while your truck is parked inside the garage, after school. Don't tell anyone you're meeting me. No one."

"Spy. Stealth. Secret mission."

"Exactly. Can you meet me in Marysville at 5:00?"

"Um... Let me think." He paused. "Yeah, dude. I don't have to stay after and I can load the stuff up in like a half hour and then be there at 5:00."

"Okay, meet me at the buffet we went to and I'll buy you dinner if you make it there with all my stuff. I'll give you gas money too."

"Cool. I love to eat."

"I know. See you tomorrow at 5:00."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"So you're going alone?"

"I need to talk to him alone. He doesn't know you and he'll just be all weird-Finn if you're with me."

"Sebastian and I could go and eat together on the other side of the restaurant."

"That's fine if you want to ask him, we can."

"I don't want you to go alone."

"You're not still scared I'm going to run away are you?"

"No. You said you wouldn't leave me. I believe you."

"Okay, good."

"Oh, wait. I can't go. I have physical therapy from 4:00-5:00."

"It's okay. I'll have the security guard walk me out to the Nav and I'll drive straight there. I'll look for Finn and I'll text him tomorrow to wait in his truck for me. We'll move the stuff into the Nav and go in and eat together and I'll have him walk me back out. I'll stop at the front stairs and get the security guard to come with me to park when I get back."

"You'll call when you get there, okay?"

"I will. I don't want you to worry." Kurt put his phone back in the dock and turned over to face Thad. "Can I lie on you?"

"Of course." Thad moved his arm and let Kurt get comfortable and then he wrapped his arm around Kurt and ran his fingers through his hair.

"You want to know something weird I've been thinking about?" Kurt was running his hand up and down Thad's left arm while lying there.

"What?"

"When I was looking up how to get scars to fade, I saw places that do tattoos to cover over scars."

"I've never considered getting a tattoo."

"Neither had I, but some of them were really beautiful and what was carved into my arm is hideous. The idea of covering it over permanently with something beautiful has some appeal to it, even though getting stuck with needles really doesn't sound pleasant. I saw some numbing cream that can be used to cut down on the pain involved."

"Well, that might help."

"There was this absolutely beautiful one of a guitar that had trees. It just reminded me of you."

"Can you show me?"

Kurt scooted up and kissed him gently. He turned over and picked his phone back up. He had taken a screen shot of the ones he liked the most. He flipped through his photos. "There. That one."

"That really is beautiful. What did you see that you liked for yourself?"

Kurt scrolled forward a couple of images. "This one. I like the balance and the feel of it. I saw a lot of music themed tattoos, but this one - it just fits."

Thad looked at the photo.

"The area I need to cover is wider than yours. Plus, I need something busy that will distract the viewer from seeing the words carved into my arm. I'm thinking of getting one done in April. No one will see it since we have to wear long sleeves at school. I just don't want to see those words on my arm and I hate wearing a bandage on it every day especially since it's healed and I don't need it. The websites say to wait six months, but I'm going to see if any of the places in Columbus specialize in covering over tattoos and go in for a consultation."

"I'll go with you. I'll have to give it some thought though."

"I understand. I wouldn't even be considering this if I hadn't been attacked. Your scar is from a surgery and it doesn't say anything awful. It's a big commitment. Will you hate it if I get one?"

"Kurt, put your phone back on your desk and come back and lie on me."

He did. He snuggled up and got comfortable again and Thad wrapped his arm back around him."

"I love you. Getting a tattoo or not getting one won't change that. I can completely understand why you don't want to see what's on your arm and I can see even more why you don't want other people to see it. If you get a cool tattoo, people will comment on how cool it is or say nothing. But if people see the scar on your arm, people will wonder. I know you don't want that and I know you don't want people to ask."

"And I'm not asking you to get one. You know that, right?"

"I know. You just saw that one and it reminded you of me."

"Okay. I love you so much. I wish so many things hadn't happened. But you're here and I'm here and we're together." Kurt lifted his head up and turned Thad's face toward him and kissed him. "If it weren't against the rules, I'd get one of those tiny electric heaters and put it on my desk or an electric blanket so we could sleep in our underwear like we did in Florida."

"Mmm. Something to look forward to. We can sleep like that for at least part of winter break." Thad continued kissing him.


	13. Chapter 13

Kurt met David and Katrina after Warblers practice and showed them the fabrics in person to get the final approval. Only uncut fabric could be returned and he wanted to be absolutely certain it was what she wanted before he did anything to the fabric. She loved it, which made Kurt very happy not to have to return anything or go shopping again.

He went to the headmaster's office afterwards with all of his supplies with him. The headmaster had a break in his schedule, giving him a few minutes to see Kurt.

"What can I do for you, Kurt?"

"I was wondering if it would be possible to use the empty dorm room across from ours for two weeks as a sewing room. I am trying to get my portfolio ready to send off to college. Normally, I would work on something like this at home, but as you know, I can't go home anymore. I've invested pretty much every cent I have in the supplies to make the costumes and I won't get paid until I finish them. So, I need somewhere safe to keep them and it's a lot easier to work on a project of this magnitude if I don't have to pick up every part of it every time I work on it."

"I see. This is an unusual case, but I will give you a key to that room which you will return as soon as you finish your project. If by some really strange circumstance we need that room for a student, you'll have to move your stuff back out immediately."

"I understand, sir. Thank you so much. With everything that has gone on, my CV is woefully lacking. I had hoped to participate in some type of local play or musical and I had to drop out of French Club because of football. I'm hoping these outfits will turn out spectacular and help me get into college."

"I would like you to consider letting me write one of your letters of recommendation."

"Really? That would be fantastic. Thank you."

"I'll let you know when it's ready to be picked up." He picked up the phone on his desk and asked his secretary to give Kurt a key to room 179.

"Thank you." Kurt got up and left the office. He stopped by the secretary's desk and took the key and went straight to room 179 and put all of the fabric inside.

He locked the door, unlocked his own room door, changed his clothes, putting his football hoodie back on over a short-sleeved shirt and then he grabbed his letterman jacket and went to the front of the building.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

He asked the security guard to walk him to the Nav. He got in and texted Thad before he backed out of his parking spot. He drove to Marysville to meet Finn.

He texted Thad as soon as he got there. Finn was waiting in his truck, like Kurt had asked him to. Finn unbungeed the boxes and they moved them all to the back of the Nav. Kurt grabbed the coats and put them in the backseat driver's side. Finn had put the box of shoes inside the cab of his truck too. He slid the box into the passenger side of the Navigator. They locked up both vehicles and went into the restaurant.

Finn noticed Kurt's letter jacket. "You got MVP?"

"I did. I guess making all my field goal attempts all season was a big deal."

"Well, yeah. I think the average is like 60-70%."

"You know I don't know anything about that stuff."

"I know, but you're a great kicker. I wish you had played the night we played. Then, I'd at least have gotten to see you play once."

"Yeah, I couldn't play that night. Did Dad tell you why?"

"You had a concussion."

"Right." He just let it go figuring that Burt had only told Finn something serious enough to get him to stop asking questions.

They were seated at a 2-person table. They ate and talked and Finn ate more and more. Once he was finally finished, Kurt paid the bill and he gave Finn $20 for gas.

"You didn't tell anyone you were meeting me, did you?"

"Nope. When Puck asked me what I was doing, I told him I had to run errands for Mom. That got him to stop asking questions. He really doesn't like picking up dry cleaning or doing the shopping."

"Good. I really appreciate you doing this. I have no long-sleeved clothes except my uniform and this football hoodie at school. And I only have this letter jacket."

"Well, you've got your stuff now. And you're welcome. Let's go. I'll walk you back. It's already dark and we've both got a ways to drive."

Finn made sure he got in the Nav and then he got in his truck and headed back to Lima.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt texted Thad that he was leaving. He drove straight back to the school. He stopped at the front. The security guard put the box inside the front door and hopped in the front seat and rode with him to park in the student lot again.

He grabbed his coats and they headed back up to the building.

"I'll come back for that box in a few minutes," Kurt told him. He just nodded. About 10 minutes later, Kurt retrieved the box and thanked him again.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt opened their door again and took the box of shoes in with him. He slid them underneath the extra bed to get them out of the way.

"How did it go?"

"It actually went really well. Finn was pleasant the whole time. He congratulated me on my football MVP and he seemed genuinely pleased that I had done well. He seems to be reforming himself into a decent human being."

"Well, that's a good thing."

"It was weird, but nice. He definitely ate $10.99 worth of food. More like $20 worth. That boy can EAT."

Thad laughed. Thad was sitting at his desk working on some kind of written work. Kurt walked up behind him and kissed him on the back of the neck.

"Mmm. I'll never get these calculus problems done if you do that."

"Calculus, shmalculus."

"You say that now, but when I get a bad grade, you won't feel the same."

"You're right. I need to do mine too, but I'm tired. Please tell me they aren't hard or long or time consuming."

"Well, I can't do that and tell the truth."

"Ugh."

Kurt hung his jacket up and got his book out and did all of the problems. An hour later, he was finally done. He looked up and Thad had moved to the bed and was sitting against the side wall reading the book they had been assigned for English. He looked at the clock. It was only 8:30, but it felt like it was much later. He got out his planner and figured out what he had left to do. They worked for another two hours and Kurt couldn't take it anymore.

"Thad, I can't keep my eyes open. Are you ready to shower?"

"Sure. I can read more after we get out."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I thought you were going to read more." Kurt found Thad in bed under the covers instead of reading.

"I changed my mind. If Mr. Little gives us a pop quiz, hopefully I can guess the answers. I just need to sleep."

Kurt checked the door lock, turned off his desk lamp and got in bed with Thad.

"Turn on your side to be the little spoon."

"Okay." Kurt turned over.

They got comfortable quickly and fell right to sleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Around 2:00am, everyone in the dorms was awakened by sirens. Kurt got up to look out the window. Something was on fire in the parking lot, presumably a car. Within a few minutes a bullhorn could be heard from outside once the sirens had been turned off.

"Everyone stay in the building. Do not come outside."

Kurt could hear commotion in the hallway. He opened the door and told David and Sebastian to stay inside. Richard came out into the hallway with his phone in his hand.

"Stay in the building. The fire is in the parking lot. No danger to the building."

Sebastian went to Kurt and followed him back into the room.

"I don't want to be alone."

"Come on. Stay with us." Kurt let Sebastian in first, and then pushed the door shut and locked it after he was inside.

Sebastian pulled the covers back on what might as well have been his bed. He was the only one that ever slept in it.

Kurt approached the window and moved the edge of the curtain just enough that he could peek outside.

"They fire department is hosing down whatever is on fire." A floodlight turned on in the parking lot illuminating the area near the fire and Kurt gasped. "Oh, my God! That's the area I parked in when I came back tonight."

Sebastian sat up and got back out of the bed and Kurt let him look out. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I had to park farther away because when I came back the spot I had before had been taken. I picked up a security guard on the way. He rode with me and walked me back."

"What's going on out there?" Thad asked since he couldn't get out of bed easily.

"One of the fire trucks is shining a really bright spotlight on the area where the fire is. They seem to be using one fire truck to put out the fire and the other truck to hose down the whole area nearby. I guess to prevent the fire from spreading," Sebastian said.

Kurt was just staring.

A few minutes later, Kurt's phone rang, making all of them jump.

"Hello?"

"Kurt, this is Headmaster Carlson."

"Yes?"

"A police officer will be coming to your room in a few minutes. I just wanted you to know. One of the school security guards will be with him."

"Alright."

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Kurt turned the overhead light on, opened the door, and let the police officer and security guard in. Kurt let the police officer walk past. The security guard stood in the doorway.

"From the look on your face, I think you know what I've come to tell you."

"It's my Navigator that's on fire."

"Yes. We ran the plates. We notified the headmaster, who called you. You don't seem shocked."

"Not really. Do I need a lawyer? Are you going to question me?"

"I do need to ask you some questions. You can have a lawyer present if you'd like."

Sebastian was already calling his dad. He told his dad that Kurt needed him to come to the school again.

"My dad will be here in 45 minutes."

"Who is your dad?"

"Arthur Smythe."

"The State's Attorney?"

"That's the one."

"Alright. I'll go see if there's anything else I can do. I'll wait for him out front, since it's unlikely he can get past all of the fire fighters out there easily."

"Who are you?" Sebastian asked.

"Officer Barnes."

"I'll let him know." Sebastian called his dad back and told him the police officer's name.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad sat up and put a pillow behind him leaning against the long wall. Kurt put his own pillow next to him and sat down.

"Come on, Sebastian. Sit with us."

Sebastian brought his pillow and sat next to Kurt. Kurt took both of their hands and closed his eyes.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They were still sitting like that an hour later when Officer Barnes knocked on the door again. Kurt got up and opened the door.

"Kurt."

"Art."

"Follow me, please."

Kurt followed them out to the lounge. Everyone else had been told to stay in their rooms.

Officer Barnes started the questioning. "Kurt, do you have any known enemies?"

Kurt tried not to laugh, but ended up snorting. "Four of them are sitting in jail in Lima. Four of them are in the Westerville jail as far as I know. I haven't been following their cases. The school filed those charges. As for others, who knows? Friends and family of those eight people? And for the record, I don't consider any of them to be my enemies. I don't hold grudges and I have no interest in their lives. But I figured your real question was asked in order to figure out who might want to set my Navigator on fire."

"You don't seem shocked. I know that people react differently to situations, but you seem overly calm."

"I'm numb, not calm. Someone threatened to kill me last year, which is what brought me to this school to start with. Three months ago, my friends, the ones you saw in my room, and I were dumpster tossed in Lima resulting in injury to all of us. I personally had a broken arm. I filed charges. They accepted the pleas they were offered. Three weeks later, I was attacked in a restroom in Columbus, resulting in a concussion, refracturing my not quite healed arm, requiring my arm to be recast, and the horrible engraving by way of exacto knife that was placed on my right forearm. Oh, and badly bruised ribs. A week later, four people vandalized the school, spray painting the side, breaking the windows by throwing bricks through them. That time, a security guard was hit by their getaway vehicle. Those are the four in the Westerville jail as far as I know."

"I ran your name. Nothing. You've never gotten so much as a speeding ticket. From the school I found out that you have a 4.0 grade point average. You're the lead singer for an elite prep school singing group and you were the MVP star kicker of the football team. You have both an academic and sports scholarship. You are a squeaky-clean model citizen. Oh, and your dad is the newly elected congressman."

"All true."

"So, tell me what you did this evening."

"I drove to Marysville to meet my stepbrother to get my winter clothes, coats, and shoes. It's turned cold and I can't go to Lima to get my stuff. I asked him to pack the stuff in his truck while parked inside our garage so that no one would see what he was doing. He drove to Marysville and he told me that he hadn't told anyone he was coming to meet me."

"Your stepbrother?"

"Oh, I should add he attends the same high school I did last year and the same school that all eight of the incarcerated individuals I previously mentioned attended before they were jailed. So, I didn't want anyone he knows to know that he was coming to meet me. The incident that happened in Columbus mostly likely happened because someone posted my whereabouts on Facebook. Not me of course."

"So, you knew your attacker in Columbus."

"I'm not going to answer that."

"You didn't file charges that time?"

"No. Can I go out to see my Navigator?"

"Why?"

"It had $2000-3000 worth of clothes in the back. All of my winter clothes, some expensive designer pieces were in there. I'd like to see if any of it is salvageable. It may be soaked, but if I pull it out now, there's some hope I can launder it or have it cleaned. I don't have any money to replace my clothes. I have no idea what the insurance coverage is for arson."

"Go put shoes and a coat on and I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt came back a few minutes later wearing sweats, shoes, and his letter jacket.

Officer Barnes and Art accompanied Kurt out to his Navigator.

"The fire did make it to the interior. I don't know if anything in there is salvageable," one of the firemen said.

"Let's at least try," Kurt countered.

Officer Barnes sent one of the other officers to get a security guard to bring out some type of dolly or cart. About 20 minutes later, an empty folding chair cart was pushed up nearby. The firemen helped move the boxes onto the cart.

"If nothing else, I can photograph what's in the boxes for insurance purposes," Kurt said. He followed the security guard back into the building. Art went with them.

"I'm going to get Sebastian to come help," Art said.

"Take these down to the laundry room on the first floor," Kurt directed.

Art texted Sebastian to go to the laundry room and he and Kurt continued to follow the security guard. A few minutes later, Thad and Sebastian joined them, bringing Kurt's laundry products with them. The security guard unloaded the boxes and left.

"Alright. Let's just unbox everything thing and photograph each piece. I'll look at each item after you photograph it and toss what's potentially salvageable into a washing machine. I'm afraid that everything is too wet to salvage any of my dry clean only items, but I guess I'll see."

They set to the task and after nearly two hours, Kurt had filled several washers, and had a stack of irreversibly damaged items.

"I don't think that some of them will come out wearable, but I'm going to give it a shot. I'm going to need a bunch of hangers though."

"I'll go to Walmart," Art said. "Any specific kind?"

"Just decently sturdy ones. Wet clothes can be heavy. Grab some clothespins too, please - to keep the pants that I don't dry on the hangers. Oh, and another clothes rack. I don't know what else to do with the clothes that are dry clean only. They'll have to dry out before I can take them in for an assessment."

Kurt started all of the washers. Art left to go to Walmart. He took Sebastian with him. Thad stayed behind with Kurt. Thad unlocked the knee joint on his brace and hoisted himself up onto the laundry-folding table.

"Kurt, come here, please."

Thad opened his arms and Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad's neck and Thad pulled him close. They stayed like that for a long time. Kurt kissed Thad gently.

"Thank you for helping me. I know a lot of it is probably a lost cause. We'll see when it comes out."

"I'll always help you if it's in my power to do so."

"Now, we're both without vehicles. I've probably lost over half of my clothes. But those are just things. We're safe." Kurt held on to Thad.

"Do you know what happened?"

"Not a clue other than my Navigator is not repairable. This time I have to call my dad. What time is it?" Kurt loosened his grip so he could pull his phone out of his pocket. "It's nearly 5:00am. I guess I'll go ahead. He usually gets up around 6:00 anyway."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Dad?"

"Yeah, Kurt. What time is it?"

"5:00."

"Why are you calling me so early?"

"There's been another incident. Someone set my Navigator on fire about 2:00."

"What?"

"Arson, Dad. Someone set the Navigator on fire in the middle of the night."

Kurt could hear Carole in the background. She was the one talking next.

"Kurt, I heard what you said. We'll be over there as soon as we get ready and can drive there."

"I'm not sure what good coming will do."

"Me either, but sitting here won't do any good either. We'll see you soon, sweetie."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad just sat in silence waiting for the washers to stop. Art and Sebastian returned with the hangers, clothespins, a clothes rack, and coffee.

"Thank you," Kurt said.

"You're welcome."

"My parents are on their way."

Art said, "I'm going to go lie down on the sofa in the lounge and try to sleep until they arrive."

The first washer stopped. Kurt started hanging all of the items up and putting them on the rods. He realized he was going to run out of room.

"Sebastian, please move the shirts to hang along the edge of the laundry-folding table. I'll hang the pants from the rod."

Sebastian did as Kurt asked. Kurt got everything hung up that needed to be and tossed the rest into a few dryers.

"I'm not sure what to do with the dry clean only clothes. There's no way that washing them will help and they can't go to the cleaners wet like that. I guess we'll have to wait until some of this stuff dries and then try to ... I don't know."

No one knew what to say or do. They just waited for the dryers to finish. Sebastian just pulled things out, shook them and laid them neatly on top of the dryer.

"Is there a way to make the washers just spin?" Thad asked.

"I never really looked before," Kurt said and went to look. "It says spin and I can turn the knob to that point."

"Let's put the soaking wet clothes into the washers and spin them and see if we can get them to the point where they are at least not dripping anymore," Thad said.

He got down carefully and locked his brace back in place. He started separating the soaked clothes into whites/lights, mediums and darks and set the washers to spin while Kurt and Sebastian were still getting the clothes out of the dryer and Kurt was folding them or hanging them up.

Once the spin cycle stopped, Kurt pulled everything out and sorted it. Things that could only go on the rack got laid in one stack. Everything else got put on hangers. He moved the stack that was left and put those items on the rack.

"I think that's it. Thank you, Sebastian." Kurt walked over to him and hugged him. "You're a really good friend."

"You're welcome. I'm going to head back out to the lounge and check on my dad."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt started inspecting the clothes that were on hangers. He moved the irreparably damaged ones to one end of the rod and to the opposite end of the table. He had already sorted the ones that had been through the dryer.

"They all still smell like smoke. I'm going to have to rewash everything," Kurt said.

"What a pain. I wonder how many times you'll have to wash them to get the smell out."

"I don't know. I'm going to look it up online. Maybe there's some trick to it."

A few minutes later, Kurt said, "Vinegar. Several websites say I need to put vinegar in the washing machine and that I'll have to wash them more than once in hot water. Most of this stuff won't survive being washed in hot water. It will shrink and I won't be able to wear it. None of it was baggy."

"Well, the cafeteria is open. Let's go down and eat something and ask Miss Kathie who always packs food up for us when one of us doesn't feel good for a bottle of vinegar. Or you can call Carole and ask her to stop and get some. They should be pretty close by now."

"I'll do that. I might need a ton of it and I don't want to get Miss Kathie in trouble." Kurt called Carole and asked for several large bottles of vinegar.

"Let's go get something to eat anyway. At least something small and some more coffee."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt's phone rang. He answered it.

"I have to go up to the front of the building and verify that the people here are actually my parents. The security guard isn't letting anyone in the building this morning that isn't staff."

"Let's go then."

After verifying his parents' identities, Kurt took them to the front office to get badges to be allowed in the whole school, including the dorm wing. Carole went with Kurt and Thad. Burt decided to take one of the security guards out to the student parking lot to have a look at what was left of the Navigator.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Carole and Thad helped Kurt take everything that he had deemed potentially salvageable after the last culling and put it back in the washers, including the clothes that had been dried since they still smelled like smoke. Carole told him to fill the tubs of the washers with water first and let the detergent and vinegar slosh around together and the dump the clothes in. He did what she said, figuring that it couldn't possibly hurt.

Kurt left the room and brought back the desk chairs from their room so that he and Carole would have some place to sit.

Kurt walked up and put his arms around Thad, who was sitting on the table again, "I know you want to stay and help, but I need you to go to class and take good notes and get our assignments and turn my stuff in. It's all on my desk in a stack."

"You're right. It's better if I go. You'll fall less behind that way." Kurt followed Thad out to the hallway. No one was around. He hugged Thad and kissed him.

"Thank you. I know you don't want to leave me, but Carole will help and I really would feel better not falling behind."

"I know. I love you." Thad kissed him and walked down to their room.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt went back in the laundry room. Carole had restarted the washers on hot and was putting vinegar in, but no clothes. Kurt looked at her quizzically.

"To get the smoke smell out of the wash tubs."

"Oh. Good idea."

"This is all just such a mess. Why can't these people just leave things be?" she asked.

"I wish I knew. I haven't even been involved in whatever is going on with the case in Westerville. They don't need student witnesses to testify or whatever. The security guards caught them red handed."

"What can I do to help?"

"I guess we can start cataloguing the damaged items. I'll go get a notebook." Kurt left and came right back.

"Where should we start?"

"Well, over there on the floor is the stack of things I didn't even bother trying to wash. They were obviously not salvageable at all. If you don't mind picking each item up, I'll write down what it is and we can just keep going until we've done the whole stack. So, just pick it up so I can see what it is, then start a new stack next to the first one."

"Got it."

By the time they finished, Kurt restarted the washers.

"Okay. Now there's a stack of folded clothes on that dryer that didn't survive. Let's do the same thing."

From there they moved on to the rest of the clothes that were hanging to dry that Kurt didn't bother to rewash after he found scorch marks or burn holes when he inspected them more carefully. They finished cataloguing everything by the time the washers stopped again. Carole helped him rehang all of the clothes and Kurt helped her after he tossed all of the clothes that could be dried into the dryers.

"Since these other ones that are hanging aren't salvageable, can we just toss them in the dryer so we can get them out of the way? The other clothes will dry faster if they're not so crowded."

"Yeah, that's fine." Kurt started a second sheet of paper and catalogued the dry clean only clothes, figuring that they were all a loss. He'd cross anything off the list that the cleaners actually managed to redeem.

When the dryers stopped, Kurt and Carole removed the items.

"Shall we just toss the stuff?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Let's call your dad and see if he talked to the insurance agent yet. It's after 8:00, he may have called by now."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Burt was brought to the laundry room by a security guard about 8:30. He looked around the room.

"Did you photograph everything?"

"Yes, when we unboxed it."

"And you made a list of the items that couldn't be salvaged?"

"Yes."

"Can you match the photos you already took to the list you wrote up?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Well, then the agent says that the ruined items can be tossed."

"Okay."

"What are we looking at as far as the monetary loss?"

"I haven't even started making that type of list, but I'll do that next. But I actually need to do some laundry from my room. I'll be right back."

Kurt returned with an overflowing basket of clothes, wearing a pair of his school slacks and his uniform shirt with the sleeves rolled up and no tie. He sorted the clothes and started the washers, adding the vinegar and detergent just in case there was still any smell left in the washers. He put all the clothes in and started the load. Burt and Carole were sitting in the chairs.

"So, what happens now?" Kurt asked.

"Well, the Navigator will be towed to a junk yard as soon as the insurance agent finishes documenting the damage by photographing it. He should get here in an hour or so."

"We'll get issued a check from the insurance company for the replacement value of the Navigator and your clothes, minus our deductible. You can go ahead ahead and buy whatever you need, Kurt. I'll cover the cost and then just keep how much ever you've spent from the reimbursement. I know you had Finn bring your clothes because you didn't have anything warm to wear here with you. From looking around in here, it looks like you lost all of your sweaters since I don't see any of them hanging up."

"Yeah, they were in a box together closest to the backseat. They were pretty bad. They're over there on the floor still wet because I didn't know what to do with them at the time. I'll probably go to the resale shop that's not far from where Art lives and look for some replacements. At least a couple. We were planning to spend the weekend at his house anyway."

"I see."

"I feel safe there."

"Well, I'm glad you feel safe somewhere, honey," Carole said.

"Once I get the reimbursement check, I'll look for a new vehicle for you."

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" Burt asked.

"I don't want another one. It just gives these people a target. We're lucky that the fire department responded quickly enough that only the cars parked on either side of the Navigator weren't damaged beyond destroying their tires from the heat. I'm not giving someone a target. I'm also going to petition to get Sebastian's car some type of preferential parking spot away from the student lot. Someplace that's harder for people to get to and set it on fire."

"You think that's a possibility?" Carole asked.

"I can't rule out anything anymore. Whoever did this last night got away with it. That will embolden those lunatics. I'm going to talk to Art about it. It might be better if Sebastian just drives his car to his dad's and leaves it there. We can hire a service or something to drive us to his house on the weekends that we want to go there."

No one had anything to say at that point. They sat with their own thoughts while they washers went through their cycles. Once they stopped, Kurt and Carole got up to deal with the clothes. Kurt moved the items that could be dried into the dryers while Carole hung things up.

"Once the dryers stop, we can leave and do whatever you want. I'm not going to class, at least not this morning. No one will bother our hanging clothes. People have a sense of honor here. People don't steal or vandalize or destroy other people's property."

"Do you have any idea who might have done this?" Burt asked.

"Not specifically. I figure it's someone who's related to or close friends with one of the eight guys already in jail. I'd have to guess football team member that's mad about losing his season due to forfeiting. If I had to make a guess, I'd say someone followed Finn from Lima to the restaurant. He got there before I did, so I have no proof. So, someone followed him, heard us talking about how glad I'd be to have my warm clothes, watched us load them in my Navigator, and then followed me back to Dalton, but not tailing me. All of them know I go to Dalton. I figure it was a spur of the moment idea to torch my clothes in my car. They all hated how I dressed. And we already discussed how quite a few of them thought it was unfair that a fag had such a nice ride. So, the arsonist gets a 2-for-1. Destroys my Nav and my clothes and gets away with it."

"Interesting idea."

"Oh, and I think it would be better if you told Finn that it was an accident. Random cigarette thrown into the parking lot or whatever he would believe."

"Why?" Carole asked.

"Because I don't want him to live in fear too. I don't want him to think that this is his fault. If he thinks someone followed him to the restaurant, he'll feel like he somehow led them to me. And plus, if he says anything and word spreads around that the arsonist got away with it, it will embolden other people to try harder. If it was just some random fluke, then no one will get any glory for it."

"So, you want me to tell him that the fire department ruled it an accident?"

"Yep, you got it. You can make up some reason about how it sat too long without being driven and how some cat must have chewed through the electrical circuits. I really don't care. The longer and more complicated your answer, the less likely he is to attempt to repeat it. So, he'd be likely to tell other people - 'Burt explained it to me, but I didn't get what he said'. Or you can go with the super simple untimely cigarette landing in the wrong place. Whatever."

"He said you and he worked out your differences. He's not lying this time, is he?" Carole asked.

"No. We're fine. I'm not sure we'll ever get to the point where we're close friends because of these outside issues and me not being able to be in Lima. But the counseling did him a world of good. He's grown up a lot in the last six months."

"We've seen the changes in him," Burt said.

The dryers stopped. Carole help Kurt get the clothes out and hang them while he folded what needed folded. Kurt put the folded clothes in the laundry basket and Carole grabbed the hanging clothes and the three of them left the laundry room and went to his dorm room. Kurt put everything away. He put his tie and a cardigan on.

"Well?"

"We need to go out and meet the insurance agent when he gets here in 10 minutes."

Kurt grabbed his letter jacket and put it on. He opened the door, followed them out and locked it behind them.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

On the way back in, Kurt asked for a trash back so he could get rid of the stuff in the laundry room.

"I don't need to leave those wet clothes laying on the floor."

Burt held the bag open while Kurt and Carole picked up the wet clothes and dumped them in.

"What do you want to do with the clothes that can't be worn? Is there anything that can be done with them?"

"You know, buttons are really expensive. I think I'll cut all of the buttons off and save them. Just leave the bag here for now." He picked up the stack of clothes and carried the clothes down the hall. "In here."

Kurt opened the room across the hall from his. He gave Carole a seam ripper and he sat on the bed with another one and they removed all of the buttons while Burt just sat and watched them.

"So, brunch?" Kurt suggested. "Or you two can just head back to Lima. There's nothing more really to do. I just have to wait for the rest of my clothes to dry and re-inspect them for damage. If they still smell like smoke, at some point, I'll have to give up trying. The upside is that I had brought in my coats and shoes when I came in last night. And they're the most difficult and costly to replace."

"Oh, I hadn't thought to ask where your coats were," Carole said.

"Why do you have a key to this room?" Burt asked.

"I'm using it as a sewing studio for the next two weeks. I'm working on a project for my college portfolio. I got permission from the headmaster to use this room."

"That was nice," Carole said.

"This is a nice place." Kurt responded. "I know you both hate it that I have to be here. But this is a really good place. No one does anything mean. Of course, there are the silly things like people rearranging someone's furniture or hiding someone's blazer or homework. One day all the Warblers showed up at my door with grocery bags full of ingredients they wanted me to turn into cookies and we baked all afternoon. A lot of these guys don't see their families all year, even in the summers. This place is home for a lot of people. We make our own families here. I'm happy here. I miss you guys, but I like it here."

"And Sebastian?"

"He's my best friend after Thad."

Carole said, "Well, I'm glad you're happy here. And brunch sounds good. We'll head into Columbus?"

"Sure. Let's go grab the bag of stuff from the laundry room and dump it on our way out."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt returned to school and attended his afternoon classes. The Warblers hadn't chosen songs yet for Regionals and the council opted to have a silent study period. Kurt and Thad used the time to work on their calculus assignment since reading assignments would be easier to work on over the weekend. When the final bell rang, Sebastian stayed back a bit and waited for them. They walked to the dorm wing and went in Kurt and Thad's room.

"Are we still going to my dad's?"

"Yes, unless you don't want to," Kurt answered.

"I do. I just haven't talked to you since we were in the laundry room."

"That's where I need to head next." Kurt put his bag down and headed down to check on his clothes. He took the notebook with him. He inspected each item. Most of them looked okay, but a few had issues that hadn't seen before in his rush to get everything. He added those items to his list and stacked them to keep their buttons. The rest he moved to the trash can in the room. Everything still smelled like smoke. He went back to their room.

Sebastian and Thad were reading when he walked in. They looked up when he walked in.

"All of my clothes still smell like smoke. I was hoping the extra washing and the vinegar would work."

Sebastian changed the subject. "So, when do you want to leave?"

"While it's still light out, but we could eat as soon as the cafeteria opens for dinner so your dad won't have to worry about feeding us."

"Too late. He had the housekeeper make stuff for tacos. He'll just put the meat in the oven to warm it up when we're on our way."

"That was nice of him," Thad said.

"So, back to when are we leaving?"

"We haven't packed." Kurt got up and pulled out his duffle. He packed their basics while Thad grabbed a couple of outfits for himself and laid them on the bed. He gathered up the books they would need and stacked them as well. "I'm just bringing one copy of our textbooks. We can take turns or read at the same time. I don't feel like hauling two copies each."

"I'll go get my stuff and change." Sebastian left.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

As soon as Sebastian had closed the door behind him Thad practically knocked Kurt back with the force of the huge hug he gave him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to knock you back."

"It's fine. I was zoned out." Kurt wrapped his hands around Thad's back. He started kissing Thad's neck and up behind his ear.

Thad turned his head and captured Kurt's lips with his own and kissed him passionately. "I love you. I want you to know that I'm here for you. I don't know how to make any of this better, but I'm here."

"That makes everything better," Kurt said. "I love you, too. Can I wear something of yours this weekend? The only clean clothes I have are short-sleeved."

"You can wear anything of mine that you want to. I think we should go shopping on the way to Art's."

"I like this blue shirt. Can I wear it?"

"Sure. Put it on. Add one of your scarves or something."

Kurt put it on with black jeans and found a scarf that looked good and tied it around his neck and tucked the ends in the collar. He tucked the blue dress shirt in and put on a belt with a cool belt buckle. He opened the box of shoes he had brought in the night before and found his calf-high Docs and put them on. He posed for Thad.

"Ooh. I like." He walked over and kissed him. "My shirt looks good on you."

Kurt went in the bathroom and styled his hair and brought back all of their toiletries in a bag. Kurt started packing the clothes in the duffle along with the toiletries, and he put the books into a backpack. Thad got changed. Sebastian was back a few minutes later. Thad opened the door.

"Looking hot, Hummel." Sebastian wolf whistled.

"Would you knock it off?" Kurt rolled his eyes. "Are you ready to go?"

"I've got everything."

"Alright, Mr. Funny Guy, let's go." Kurt grabbed one of his winter coats from the closet and put it on. He carried the duffle and put the backpack on one shoulder. Thad put his coat on, grabbed his crutch and pulled the door shut behind him and locked it.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I think the dark gray one," Thad said.

"I like the dark green one," Sebastian said.

"I'll get both." Kurt stuck his tongue out at the two of them. "But I like the dark red one best and I'm getting it too." He went back into the dressing room, slipped the dark red cardigan off and grabbed everything else.

Kurt put three button up shirts and the three cardigans on the counter and paid for them. "Alright. Let's get going. You can call your dad and tell him we're on our way. Thanks for detouring so I could get some clothes."

Sebastian called his dad.

"No problem on the detour. You can wash those as soon as we get to my dad's."

"I've never really bought washable sweaters. So, we'll see how it works out. Goodwill has always been my go-to place for costume parts. But I didn't want to spend a lot to find out whether I can really wash and dry a sweater. It was $25 for all six pieces. Even if half of them make it, it will be a bargain. And they're nice. The Goodwill here has a lot better stuff. Nicer neighborhood. I want to actually really see what makes it before I invest in buying anything else, though."

"Makes sense," Sebastian said. "We don't really have much time to wear regular clothes anyway. You might as well wait and figure out where you're going to college before you invest in a bunch of winter clothes. If you decide on some place warm, you won't need them anyway. By the time you'd graduate and potentially move somewhere cold again, you might not even like what you buy now. That would be like five years from now."

"I'm going to France," Kurt said very matter-of-factly. "It's the only thing I can think to do to stop this madness. None of them speak French. None of them would waste thousands of dollars, go to the trouble of getting Passports and Visas just to pull a prank like setting my car on fire or throwing a brick through my window."

"So, you've decided not to apply to anywhere here in the States?" Sebastian asked.

"Well, I was going to, but after last night, I'm feeling like getting as far away as possible. Maybe I'll feel different later."

"I can understand that. Just so you know, it's never as cold in Paris as it is here. There are four seasons, but they are less extreme."

"Good to know."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"What's the housekeeper's name?" Kurt asked.

"Matilda."

"Please tell Matilda that the tacos were really good," Kurt said.

"I'll tell her you said so," Art responded.

"Thanks."

"Are we still on for the museum and the Spaghetti Warehouse tomorrow?"

"Definitely," Thad said.

"I've never been so I'm looking forward to it," Sebastian said.

"I was going to have Matilda make lasagna for tonight, then I remembered where we were planning to go tomorrow."

"So, how about we leave at 10:00 or is that too early?" Kurt asked.

"10:00 is fine," Art said.

"We'll head up and work on getting our schoolwork done tonight. Well, I need to go wherever the washer and dryer is and they can go up."

"The laundry room is off the kitchen. Go through the pantry and you'll see the laundry room door," Art responded.

"Thanks."

"Why don't you go get started on that? Thad and I can clear the table and wash the dishes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

Kurt went upstairs to grab his European history book and the clothes. He came back down quickly. Thad and Sebastian were nearly done loading the dishwasher and washing the hand-wash pieces.

"I took the history book. I think I can finish the reading by the time the washer and dryer are done."

Thad followed him into the laundry room. "That's fine. I'll read something else for now." Thad gave him a quick kiss and went back out into the kitchen and went upstairs with Sebastian.

Kurt washed and dried all of the items. He sat on the laundry room floor and read. He knew that if he went to sit somewhere comfortable that'd he'd be asleep in five minutes.

He was pleasantly surprised that all six items survived. He decided he'd wear the black button up with the dark red sweater the next morning and laid them on the back of Sebastian's desk chair when he got upstairs. He hung the two shirts in Sebastian's closet and neatly folded the cardigans and laid them on the closet shelf.

Sebastian had already showered when he got upstairs. After he put the clothes away, he and Thad headed into the bathroom. Things went much more quickly this time with no casts and no bandages.

"You two are speed demons now," Sebastian teased when they came back so quickly.

"It's amazing how much faster you can bathe without casts and bandages."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

All four of them enjoyed the museum and they spent dinner talking about the things they enjoyed the most. And as much as Kurt enjoyed the museum and the food, what he liked most was seeing Sebastian and his dad actually getting to know each other. After dinner they headed back. On the drive, Art brought up a subject that had been on Kurt's mind.

"Sebastian, I want you to leave your car in my garage for a while. I'm not sure how long. I hate to do it to you because you've done nothing to warrant me taking it away from you. But after talking to Burt, it seems like it might be better if these people didn't have any targets for a while."

"I understand, Dad."

"I'm going to keep a car service on retainer. If you need to go somewhere, any of the three of you can all for a car. And on the weekends you want to come here, the car service will pick you up and bring you if I can't pick you up. Once you're here, you can take your car and go out and be Ohio tourists like you have been."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Thanks, Art. That's really kind of you. I think Thad and I can keep our ventures to the weekend we come here. But it's nice to know that we could call for a car if we need to."

"Kurt's right. That's really nice of you. Thanks," Thad added.

"You're welcome - all of you. Do you have plans for tomorrow?"

"We do, but we have no idea what they are. Sebastian's planning the day and he's kept his plans a secret."

"I see. Well, I have some business matters to work on tomorrow. I'll be in my office at home if you need anything. I'll drive you back to school around 6:00 if that's okay."

"That will be fine, Dad. We'll be sure to be back by 6:00."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They worked on schoolwork that evening when the got back and again the next morning until close to lunchtime. They headed back into Columbus into the German Village area. They ate a traditional German lunch, which was a lot of fun. The restaurant had a lot of ambience and made them feel like they weren't in Columbus.

They browsed a variety of different shops, but Sebastian left what he thought would be the best for last. He led them to a bookshop that had 32 rooms of books. They all enjoyed browsing and looking through the huge selection. About 4:30, they decided to wrap it up and make a final selection. They each left with one book and headed back to the Smythe's.

They gathered up their things and put them in Art's trunk and headed back to Dalton. When they pulled up to the front stairs, Art texted each of them the car service phone number and asked them to store it in their contacts and not to hesitate to call if they needed to go somewhere. Kurt and Thad thanked him for hosting them again. Kurt and Sebastian grabbed the bags and they headed inside.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After they dropped everything in their room, Kurt went back to the laundry room to check on his clothes. They all still smelled like smoke. He decided he would put them through two more wash cycles and then give up. He had too much to do for the next two weeks to spend every evening rewashing clothes.

He took everything off the hangers and spread them out between several washers thinking that more water flowing through them would help or at least couldn't hurt. He filled the tubs with water first and added the detergent and vinegar and let it swish around. He added the clothes and ran the full cycle.

He went back to his room and set an alarm on his phone to go restart the washers. When they finished, he ran the loads a second time. He rehung everything and went back to their room. Thad was reading the book he had bought in Columbus. Kurt still had schoolwork left to read, but finished it about 30 minutes later. They showered and went to bed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When Thad was in the bathroom the next morning, Kurt quickly got the small box of chocolates that he had bought in the candy store in German Village and put them on Thad's desk on top of his textbooks.

Thad came back to load up his bag for the day and found the chocolates. He unfolded the note that was on top. He turned around to find Kurt smiling at him.

"You are a sneaky boyfriend. We were in there together. How did you manage to get me the chocolates?"

"I can't reveal my tricks."

"Of course not. Thank you. Come here. Let's pick one and share it before we go to breakfast."

Kurt stood next to him. "You pick."

Thad picked one up and held it up for Kurt to bite it. He put the rest in his mouth. "Mmm. That's good. I only tried the fudge yesterday, but the chocolates are good too."

"I agree." Kurt kissed him. "Happy nine monthiversary. Mmm. Chocolate kisses." He kissed him again. "I love you."

Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and hugged him. "I love you too." He reached down and put the chocolates to the side and packed the books they needed into the backpack. Kurt grabbed his own bag as well as the backpack and they headed off to breakfast.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After rehearsal, Kurt dropped his book bag off and changed into his Dalton sweatpants and t-shirt and went straight to the room across the hall. He was behind on the costumes because he didn't get started on Friday like he had planned to. He sat down and got started working on Katrina's dress.

He planned to work on the costume for two hours every weekday, using the time that he had been spending at football practice. When the two hours were up, he locked the room up and went back to his own room. He unlocked the door to be completely surprised by what he saw.

"Talk about sneaky boyfriends. You had some serious help on this one. A table with a tablecloth. Plates and silverware. Candles, battery operated, so we don't break any school rules. And Indian food. It's beautiful. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"I'm woefully underdressed for such a fine dinner."

"Actually I think you're overdressed for my plans," he winked.

"Oh, I see. Well, then shall we eat?"

"Definitely."

They ate and flirted and ate more and kissed and finally finished eating. Kurt put the candles on his desk to use again later. He washed the plates and silverware and moved the small table out to the hall and put the clean dishes on top. He went back inside and locked the door behind him.

He turned around only to find himself pushed back against the door being kissed passionately. Thad ran his hands up under Kurt's t-shirt and pulled it off. He ran his hands up and down Kurt's arms gently.

"I'd really like a nice hot shower followed by me giving you a massage," Thad said.

Kurt started undressing Thad. "Sounds perfect, but I want to give you a massage too."

"Mmm. I'm going to do yours in the shower."

"Okay. That's an interesting idea."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad was lying face down in the bed with Kurt straddling him giving him a massage.

"The shower massage was a good idea. The last time we tried it in the bed it was hard to do. It's a lot easier in a big bed when you can sit next to me, like in Florida."

"We'll be going back in about two and a half weeks," Thad pointed out.

"I know. I'm excited. It will be kind of weird with my parents there. But hopefully, not too weird. I don't know if either of them have ever been to the beach. If they haven't, that will be fun for them."

"Oh, I have news."

"What?"

"My parents bought a sofa bed for the condo. So, we won't have to squish together and sleep on the couch."

"I liked squishing you on the couch."

"We can still snuggle on the new couch, but a whole week of sleeping on it would be tough I think."

"Possibly. But that was nice of them to do. Tell them thank you from me, okay?"

"I will."

"Mom wants to know what you want for Christmas."

"I don't need any gifts. She's already offered to pay for my ticket. Tell her that's enough of a gift."

"I don't think she'll accept that answer, but I'll try. Ugh. Ow. Good ow. Don't stop. That feels so good."

"I'm glad."

"You know it's okay if you only apply to schools in France. I don't mind living there."

"I shouldn't have said that without asking you. I was just so upset."

"I mean it. I like it in France. I'm not really set on any particular school. I just want to learn to do what I love to do better. I can do that lots of places. It's not like some American school has the market on how to orchestrate music."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure that I'm sure. Raise up for a second." Thad flipped himself over. "Sit back down."

Kurt started massaging Thad's arms and chest. Thad reached for Kurt's hands and pulled him forward. He wrapped a hand around the back of Kurt's neck and gently guided him down and kissed him. "Stretch out. It's okay. It doesn't hurt at all and you won't squish me."

Kurt stretched out, but still kept from putting any direct weight on Thad's legs.

"Please listen. As long as the school you want to go to has a music composition program, it will be fine with me. I've lived all over. I've only lived in the US for the last three years, plus the summers and vacations in Florida. I'm not just trying to be nice or willing to compromise or something. And if the school you really want to go to doesn't have the program I want, as long as there is a nearby school that does, that would be okay too. As long as I get to be where you are."

"Okay," Kurt said very quietly. He pushed back up to his knees and pulled his phone off of his desk and reset the alarm for earlier. "I'm setting it early to get some more work done then, but I need you more than I need to read that stuff."

"Let me turn on my side." They rearranged until they were lying facing each other. They intertwined themselves in the way they were comfortable.

"Thank you." Kurt kissed Thad gently. "I honestly never even dreamed of having this." He relaxed into Thad's embrace and quickly fell asleep. Thad wasn't far behind.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

As it had on Monday, Warblers rehearsal for the rest of the week consisted of the eight singers that would be performing at the Yule Ball rehearsing with the orchestra, while those not singing stayed back in the Warblers room working on homework.

Kurt spent two hours after Warblers rehearsal every day working on Katrina and David's costumes.

At the end of the first week of working on them, he had Katrina's ready for a first fitting. He requested permission to take Katrina into the dorm building for long enough for her to try on the costume since there were no places for her to change in the main building. What he had completed fit well and she was pleased with the progress so far.

Kurt had left his clothes to hang in the laundry room to air out for the entire week. He checked on them on Saturday morning and they still smelled like smoke. He decided to give it one last shot and he washed them in hot water like some of the sites recommended. He knew that some of them would shrink, but he figured if any of them survived, it was better than tossing them all. Even if they were too small, but he got the smoke out, he could at least donate them and they wouldn't be tossed in the trash. He started the hot loads and went back to working on Katrina's dress, setting an alarm to go back to get the clothes out.

Thad spent Saturday in the room with Kurt. He played quiet classical guitar music in the background and read the book he had gotten in Columbus. He didn't talk to Kurt or distract him. He just liked being in the same room with him.

Kurt's alarm went off and he went to pull the clothes out. He shook them out and clearly some of them had no potential of fitting him anymore. He tossed those in the dryer. He hung up what was left, which consisted of maybe one tenth of his original collection. Mentally, he bounced back and forth between "it doesn't matter they're just clothes" to "everything I ever worked for is gone". He went back down to the sewing room after he finished hanging things up.

He set the alarm again for a shorter amount of time to get the clothes out of the dryer. He refocused his mind and got back to work on gathering the sleeve cap by hand.

Thad watched Kurt's intense focus on the project and saw how much Kurt enjoyed the creative process. Kurt could make wearable works of art, something he could never do in a million years.

"You're staring at me."

"Oh, sorry. I'll go back to reading. But just so you know, you're gorgeous and your work is amazing." He opened his book back up and went back to reading. "And don't roll your eyes."

Kurt laughed. "You know me so well."

"And I love you."

"I love you too."

He went back to sewing. When the alarm went off, he went back to the laundry room and folded up the clothes from the dryer. The still smelled faintly of smoke to him. He took them with him back down to the sewing room.

"What do you think?"

Thad smelled them. "I can still smell smoke, but it's not as horrible anymore."

"I'm out of time. I'm just going to declare them all a loss. We have to turn in our claim today. I've tried, really tried to get the smell out. The hang-to-dry clothes are down there still. But I think they're still going to smell."

Kurt went across the hall and grabbed the notebook with the list in it. He wrote down everything in the stack he had brought with him. Then he took the stack back with him and went to the laundry room and wrote down all of the items that had not already been catalogued. He went back to the sewing room.

"Come in our room, okay?"

"Sure."

"Will you read the name of the item? Then, I'm going to look it up. I'll give you a price and you write it down. Maybe it will go faster this way." Kurt turned his laptop on. What seemed like hours later to Kurt, they had made it through the whole list. "Now, I just need to total the cost."

"Will they pay this much?"

"No, but I have to include the replacement value or retail price of the most comparable items. Dad said they'd pay some percentage of the value. I don't remember exactly. Just that I had to get it done by today."

Thad used his phone's calculator and totaled the prices. Kurt went up to the third floor and used the scanner and then sent the file to his dad and called him to let him know he had sent it.

Kurt went back down to their room and they went to lunch. They ate with the rest of the Warblers that were in the cafeteria.

When the got back to the sewing room, Kurt asked, "Where's Sebastian? I miss him."

"He spent all week doubling down on his school work because he had to go to his dad's this weekend. There's some Christmas work/political event today and then some family members are coming into town for tonight and tomorrow to celebrate Christmas."

"Oh. Well, I hope he has fun."

"I'm going to go see who's here to try to round up a few people for a movie night."

"Okay. I'll still be in here working on this."

Thad stopped and kissed him on the way out.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad managed to round up most of the Warblers for a movie and game night. Everyone met down in the first floor lounge. Nick brought his gaming system down and they played games for a while before they put a movie in.

Thad left Kurt in the room to work on the outfits because the guys had chosen a movie that he knew Kurt wouldn't like and he knew Kurt wouldn't want to waste time watching something he didn't want to see when he had so much work he needed to do on the costumes.

He walked down and checked on him a few times while everyone was gaming. He found him talking to Sam at one point, explaining something, like usual. Kurt was never one to turn away someone in need, and Sam was a good friend. Kurt turned toward the door when he heard it open and smiled. Thad waved and Sam waved back.

Thad went back out to the lounge and grabbed a few snacks and a drink for Kurt and took them back to the room and put them in the bathroom so that there would be no possibility of them getting spilled onto Katrina's dress.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When all of the food and games had been packed up and everyone had left, Thad went back to the room and went back to reading the book he had been reading earlier. He accidentally fell asleep while reading.

Kurt continued to work on the dress, even after Thad fell asleep. He was desperate to get caught up and maybe a little ahead in case there were any problems down the road.

A little before midnight, Kurt got Thad up. They went back to their room, showered and got in bed quickly.

"I made a lot of progress. Thanks for the snacks."

"You're welcome." Thad snuggled in close and kissed the back of Kurt's neck. "The dress is going to be fantastic. She's going to love it."

Kurt pushed back against Thad and Thad wrapped his arm around him and held him close and they fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Kurt spent Sunday alternating between doing schoolwork and sewing. Eventually it was more schoolwork than sewing because he had to get it done. He and Thad were sitting in the lounge reading when Sebastian came down the hall.

"Sebastian!"

He turned and went into the lounge. Kurt got up and practically knocked him back with a bear hug.

"I missed you."

"I'd have never guessed," he teased.

"What is that hideous sweater you're wearing?"

"Oh, I must have done a really good job then," he laughed.

"A good job at blinding people?"

"It seems that my father's sister, my Aunt Regina, hosts an ugly sweater making party every year at this time of year. They long ago realized that a bunch of rich people giving other rich people gifts was pretty stupid. So, she decided that since there was always at least one ugly Christmas sweater party on her social calendar every year that early in the season, our family would get together to celebrate the season by making our own ugly sweaters as a family event. This was my creation this afternoon."

"Well, I think it's awesomely awful," Kurt said. "And the whole thing sounds like a really fun party."

"It was. I was actually happily surprised. My dad left the nature of the party as a surprise. I was expecting to sit around in a fancy, professionally-decorated mansion pretending to care what people I don't know were talking about, while also pretending to like whatever utterly useless gift I might be given. I had imagined custom golf tees with my name on them."

"Well, I'm glad you're back and that you had fun."

"You wouldn't miss me so much if you didn't stay holed up in that dorm room next to mine so much."

"Want to see the dress so far?"

"You're letting people see now?"

"Well, Katrina saw the part I had done on Friday and Thad's been in there with me this weekend."

"Of course I want to see."

The three of them went down the hall and Kurt opened the door and turned the light on. It was hanging on the bathroom doorframe.

"Oh, wow. It looks amazing."

"Thanks. I still have more work to do on it, but I'll try not to ignore you. You could come in and read like Thad has been doing this weekend. I just can't be distracted. If they aren't done on time - I can't think about that."

"Maybe you can just knock each night when you're done for the evening and I'll peek at your progress. I wouldn't want to bother you."

"Okay."

Sebastian left and went to his room. Kurt turned the light off and he and Thad went into their room and got ready for bed, even though it was too early to go to sleep. They got in bed and worked on their reading assignments that they hadn't finished.

About 15 minutes later, there was a knock at their door. Kurt got up and opened the door. Sebastian was standing there with a textbook in his pajamas and his glasses looking like a lost puppy.

"Come on in." Kurt smiled.

Sebastian pulled the covers back on his bed and climbed in and covered up.

"You missed me too," Kurt said.

"Shush," Sebastian said and threw a pillow at him. "I can't read when you talk."

Kurt took the pillow and got out of bed and whacked Sebastian with it, but not in the face since he had his glasses on. "Shush yourself. It was completely quiet until you got here."

Thad was laughing. Kurt turned around to go back to his own bed and Sebastian smacked him on the backside with the pillow. Kurt turned back around. "I bet that I can make a case for mistreatment of school property and report you."

Sebastian stuck his tongue out. "Prove it."

"I have history reading to do." Kurt flounced back to his bed and climbed under the covers and picked his book back up to read more.

Thad was still laughing. "You two are such brothers."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Monday morning Kurt got up and looked at his planner for the week and panicked.

"I should have never taken on the costume project. I am never going to get everything done this week. Next week is finals. Argh."

"We'll help however we can," Thad said.

"Sure, I'll help you with your French research. I'll find reputable sources and then you can just read them. And I'll help Sam. I'll just text him and tell him to Skype me instead, even for math."

"Really? Oh, my God that would help so much!"

"Get dressed so we can go eat. I'll be back in 15 minutes."

Thad followed Kurt into the bathroom and wrapped his arms around him and held him tight. "You can do this. Just try to relax and focus. The more you freak out, the less attention you can pay to what you're reading and studying."

"You're right."

Thad turned Kurt around and kissed him. "Let's go eat."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The whole week went by in a blur of sewing and studying and rehearsing. Fortunately, Sebastian and Thad had been able to help Sam whenever he had Skyped. Kurt felt bad for delegating him to other people, but he also knew that Sam didn't mind. He actually got along well with Thad and Sebastian.

Thursday evening arrived and Kurt was frazzled, but the costumes were done. David and Katrina arrived for their final fitting after dinner at 7:00, leaving Kurt enough time to do any potential last minute work in time while David took Katrina out to a movie.

They put their outfits on and they fit perfectly. Kurt posed them in front of the beautiful wood closet doors in the room and brought in the lights from his desk and Thad's to light the room up even brighter to get better photos. He had them pose together and separately facing all different directions so he'd have all the shots he might need.

He went and got Thad and Sebastian because they both had asked him to. They didn't stay long so they wouldn't interfere.

Katrina went in the bathroom and handed the dress out the door very carefully.

It seemed odd at the time of the request, but Katrina understood Kurt's request for her to bring a shower curtain when she came back out of the bathroom. She saw Kurt had laid it out on the bed. He placed the dress in the center and wrapped it up, taping the overlap shut. David took his outfit to his room and came back and carried Katrina's out and put it in his car very carefully.

Katrina paid Kurt and thanked him profusely for making her the perfect dress. She offered to write a letter of recommendation if he wanted one. He accepted her offer, not knowing whether it would be useful or not, but figuring that it couldn't hurt, even if he just used it to show future clients that he was reliable.

Kurt took all of the photos that he had taken over the last two weeks of the process and burned them to a CD as soon as he got back to his room. He returned to the sewing room, packed up all of his tools and supplies, and made sure everything was exactly how it needed to be. He went back in one last time and checked under all of the furniture since he had to return the key the next day.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian was in the room when he came back.

"Those are spectacular. I bet their outfits are the best of everyone's."

"I guess we'll see tomorrow night. Oh, flippertygibbet! I don't have any black slacks to wear and it's too late to order any."

"You can wear a pair of mine."

"Or mine."

"Alright. Bring me your shortest pair and I'll find Thad's longest pair and I'll try both on and see if either of them will work."

Sebastian left and came back. Kurt had pulled Thad's longer pair out. When Sebastian came back, Kurt took both pairs in the bathroom and tried them on.

"I think Sebastian's look better. I like the fuller style at the bottom for the event."

"Well, you can borrow them."

"Thanks. That's one thing I'm going to need to go shopping for. I need a nice pair of black slacks. Maybe we could go shopping when we're in Florida. I know we don't have time to go before we leave."

"Sure. I know just the place. My mom loves to go there. We can go with her and Dad or your parents when they come. Carole will love some of the stores. And there's some really good restaurants around there too - to bribe your dad with."

"Sounds good."

"I have plans for one of our days," Sebastian said.

"Do tell," Kurt said.

"Nope, not yet. I have to get everything finalized first."

"Fine. I know it's early, but I'm beat. If you want to sleep in here, come back in 30 minutes."

"Got it." Sebastian left and came back.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They only had one in-service day, but Kurt was glad for it. They had plans for Sunday, so the three of them planned out their studies to spend the day Friday and Saturday studying for their most difficult exams, with a break Friday evening to perform at the Yule Ball.

Friday evening the three of them enjoyed performing the pieces that had been chosen. And Kurt really liked seeing all of the costumes the attendees were wearing.

"Do you wish we had come?" Thad asked Kurt as they walked behind the rest of the group to hang their robes back up.

After they had walked away and were walking back toward the room, he answered. "No, yes, no. I mean it looks like fun, I'd rather not spend the kind of money it takes to make or buy nice outfits like everyone is wearing and all I really care about is being with you. We can go to our room and dance to beautiful music. You don't need a fancy outfit or a special event to let me know how much you care. You do it every day. The little things add up to so much more than a big showy display does."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad opened their door and ushered Kurt in and closed and locked the door.

"Oh, wow. I love it!" Kurt exclaimed.

Somehow Thad had managed to get fairy lights up on their closet doors and music was already playing.

"May I have this dance?" Thad asked.

"Of course."

They held each other close and barely moved in a circle while swaying slightly. Thad had been walking around short to medium distances without his crutch for a week or two, but he still didn't have any mobility at the knee making real dancing nearly impossible. But as Kurt had told him, it was the thought that counted and Kurt seemed thrilled.

"This is perfect."

Thad stepped back just enough to start unbuttoning Kurt's shirt. Kurt did the same. He slipped Thad's shirt off his shoulders and put both shirts on the end of the bed. He resumed their dancing position. When the music stopped about 15 minutes later, Thad led Kurt into the bathroom.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The three of them were ready to be picked up at 9:00 Sunday morning. They had all dressed up for the season. Sebastian was wearing the hideous ugly Christmas sweater that he had made the weekend before. Kurt wore the gray button up shirt and dark green cardigan with a Christmasy scarf tied at the neck and tucked in. Thad wore a red button up shirt with one of Kurt's vests.

Art took them out for a nice breakfast at Cracker Barrel and afterwards the stopped at a Target the guys could pick up whatever they were running low on. Thad and Kurt stocked up on all of their laundry items and toiletries.

Art drove them to their destination. Kurt thought it was some kind of small art museum, but they went in and found that his surprise was that they were taking a glass blowing class together and they were making Christmas tree balls.

Kurt left his cardigan with coat as suggested. They rolled their sleeves up, put on the provided aprons and sat at their spots waiting for the class to begin. The instructor demonstrated what they needed to do.

Art spoke softly. "I thought these would make perfect Christmas gifts for your parents, Kurt."

"You're right. They will love them. This is a really cool idea."

"I decided to take a page from my sister's book. Don't you dare tell Regina that I thought she had a good idea," he laughed.

Sebastian said, "Well, I just might." and laughed.

"This is really cool," Thad said. "I didn't even know that regular people could try something like this. I never even thought about looking to see if anyone did this type of thing."

They started picking colors and turned their focus to making their ornaments. By the end of the class, they were all pleased with how theirs had turned out.

Art finished first. "Stay in here, I'll be right back." He went out to the car and came right back with a bag from Target in his hand. 'While you guys were shopping, I picked up some gift boxes and tissue paper.

They moved to an empty spot in the room and assembled the boxes and stuffed them with tissue paper and placed the ornaments inside and stuffed the boxes with more tissue paper. "I have ribbons and wrapping paper too. We can do that at home." They put the gift boxes with the ornaments back in the Target bag and headed to Art's.

When they went inside, Kurt was surprised to see a nice sized live tree in the front room or formal living room or whatever it was called. But it was not decorated. Art saw the confused look on Kurt's face.

"I usually just hire someone to do it, but I decided that it would be more fun if we did it this afternoon. The ornament boxes are on the floor. I went to the Christmas Store and bought some that I liked."

"Did you get lights, Dad?"

"All of it. It's all in the bags over next to the sofa."

Sebastian pulled everything out and laid it on the sofa.

"Matilda made a sub tray for us. I thought we could have a light lunch and then decorate?"

Sebastian hung their coats in the closet and Kurt went straight to the kitchen to help Art get everything out.

"What time are my parents coming? Or better when are we eating? I don't want to eat too much now and be too full to eat dinner."

"Oh, they're coming at 4:00, but we won't eat until about 6:00."

Everyone built their own sandwiches and they ate at the kitchen island. The dining table had already been set for dinner.

"I did hire someone to cater dinner though. I don't have Matilda come in on Sundays. It's her day off. Sometimes I have her in on Saturdays in trade for the next Monday off, but never on Sundays."

"I'm sure it will be delicious," Kurt said.

"Carole insisted on bring dessert though."

"Ooh. Good! Did she say what?"

"Not specifically. She said it was your favorite dessert."

Kurt smiled, guessing that she was bringing a cheesecake.

They finished eating and put the leftovers away and went back to the living room to start decorating. They managed to finish about 15 minutes before Burt and Carole were due to arrive.

"It's perfect. I like it better than any of the professional trees I've had done."

Sebastian and Kurt picked up all of the boxes and put them in the pantry on an empty shelf and tossed the trash.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Art let Carole and Burt in when they arrived. Sebastian took their coats. Carole handed a stack of wrapped gifts to Kurt. He carried them over to the tree. Burt had a stack of games in his hands that Art took from him so he could get his coat off.

"Let's head back to the den. I have a game table set up back there where we can play."

Everyone followed Art. He had a table with six chairs set up in the center of the room. He put the board games on the table. Everyone sat down and started talking about which game to play.

Burt spoke up, "Is there some place I could talk to Kurt for a few minutes?"

"Sure, the library is the room we passed. It has doors. You just couldn't see them when we walked past. You can go in there."

Kurt got up and followed Burt to the library. Burt closed the French doors.

"What's up, Dad?"

"I wanted to let you know about the insurance settlement. I got it this past week. I know you had said for me to keep what I had paid for the Navigator and the parts and I did. I deposited the rest of the settlement into your savings account. You can transfer it to your checking as needed, but I didn't want to put that much money into your checking account."

"Thanks. I bought a few things a couple of weeks ago at Goodwill and I definitely need to buy some black dress slacks. I had to borrow a pair to wear for a performance Friday night. But Sebastian made a good point about waiting to buy much of anything else since I don't know where I'm going to college. I may not even need that many winter clothes."

"That's good idea. At least now, you'll have the money to get what you need. I wanted to ask you one more thing before we go back out there. You and Thad are wearing matching rings on your thumbs. What does that mean?"

"Oh, we've been wearing them for about six weeks I guess. They're spinner rings. Here look." Kurt showed Burt how the top layer spun smoothly. "They're supposed to help reduce anxiety by giving the wearer something to fiddle with when they're anxious. I think it does actually help. It's calming in a way. I find myself spinning it instead of fighting the urge to bite my fingernails."

"I see. And that's it?"

"Are you trying to ask me if they're engagement rings?"

Burt nodded.

"No, they aren't. Would it be so bad if they were?"

"You're awfully young."

"How old were you when you got married?"

"22 - and your mother was 19."

"I'll be 19 in five months, Dad."

"I know. You're just a kid though."

"No, Dad. I'm YOUR kid, but I'm not a child anymore. It's actually been a really long time since I was a child. Probably before Mom died. I've dealt with more things than a lot of people twice my age. If and when I decide to get engaged or married, it won't be on a whim. I love Thad. And as far as I'm concerned, he's it for me. I would say yes if he asked me to marry him. But he hasn't. I haven't asked him. We wear these rings to remind ourselves that we're there for each other. When I'm alone, I can feel the ring. I can look at it. I can spin it when I'm stressed and remind myself that I'm loved for who I am."

"Okay. I'm glad you've found someone. I really am."

"I know it's weird for you because you're not getting to spend much time with me or around him. But you can change that. You can stop excluding him when you come to see me and you can come as often as you like. We come here and stay with Art. Art took us out to breakfast and shopping. You could do the same. An hour and a half is not that far. I know you're going to be busy after the congressional session starts, but you have to fly in and out of Columbus to get there and back. You can start adding a stop in Westerville on your way home or on your way to DC."

"I'll work on that."

Kurt could see Carole looking at them through the French doors. Kurt motioned for her to open the door.

"Should we start without you two?"

"No," Burt answered. "We're coming."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They played Monopoly until the caterers arrived. They ate as soon as the food was set up. They didn't talk a lot and dinner went quickly. Everyone enjoyed the roast beef, potatoes, carrots, and salad. Carole's cheesecake was a big hit. The three guys packed up the leftovers quickly and went into the living room.

Carole gave each of them a box. Kurt opened his first.

"Oh, it's lovely. I love it. I've never seen a scarf like this. It's kind of like an ascot. It will lay perfectly under the collar of my pea coat. And it's a beautiful color. You know how much I like dark red." Kurt put it on. "And the black flecks will make it look perfect with my coat."

Carole was beaming.

"Did you make it?"

"I did. I took up knitting last summer. I had always wanted to learn and I figured why wait any longer. I took a beginner's class and loved it. I took an advanced class later in the summer."

"Well, it's fabulous. Thank you."

Thad opened his box next. It was sapphire blue with an intricate argyle stitch, which totally matched Thad's stye.

"Carole, mine is beautiful. I love that raised pattern. It's really soft. And it's my favorite color. Thank you."

Sebastian opened his next, now expecting a scarf. "Oh, wow. That's really cool. I don't think I've ever seen a scarf zig zag striped vertically like this. I love the colors."

"Somehow I always get this impression that you're quite the colorful character," Carole laughed.

"Who would give you an idea like that?" Sebastian said, staring at Kurt.

Thad broke out laughing. "They are brothers. It makes no difference that they have different parents."

"We have something for the two of you," Kurt said. "He got up and pulled his box out from under the tree."

"Can you grab mine, please?" Thad asked.

Kurt picked them both up. He handed Thad's to him. He handed his own to Burt. He was surprised to see Thad hand his to Carole.

They opened the boxes. "Oh, boys these are beautiful!" Carole exclaimed.

"That's what we did earlier. We went and made them ourselves," Kurt said.

"Really? I didn't know you could even do that," Carole said.

"Neither did we. Art took us and we all made one." Kurt got up and pointed out the two on the tree that Art and Sebastian had made.

"That is really neat, boys," Burt said. "Thank you. We'll put them on the tree at home."

Carole wrapped them back up carefully.

Art said, "Well, the final event of the evening is that we have tickets for all of us to go see _Mamma Mia!_ in Columbus. Tonight's the last show of the Broadway Tour for this stop."

"Seriously?" Kurt jumped up so excited he couldn't contain it.

"Yes," Art answered.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my God! What time does the show start?"

"8:00. We have time to get there."

Kurt jumped up and went to the closet to retrieve his coat and Thad's. He was still wearing his scarf and he put his coat on. He held Thad's out for him. Thad put his scarf on first and then let Kurt help him into his coat. Kurt scurried off to the den to retrieve the board games and then to the kitchen to retrieve Carole's glass plate. He stood holding the games and plate bouncing up onto his toes and back down to flat feet with an "I'm ready to leave" smile on his face.

Sebastian laughed at him. And went to the closet and pretended to ponder which coat would be the best choice, as if he had more than one winter coat hanging in the closet.

Kurt sat the games down on a side table and walked over to the closet, grabbed Sebastian's coat and handed it to him, more like shoved it at him as politely as possible. "Do you need help getting it on?" he asked extra politely.

Thad was laughing again, trying not to, but not succeeding. He looked at Carole with a "see what I mean?" look on his face. She rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Honey, why don't you and Thad go ahead out and get in my car?" She handed him the keys. "You can turn it on and get it warmed up."

Kurt handed Carole the plate, grabbed the games, and took Thad's hand and went outside.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"That was FANTASTIC!" Kurt said excitedly as they came out of the theater. "Awesome and amazing." He was bouncing.

"He was like this after the Lion King last year," Thad said quietly to Carole. She smiled.

"I'm glad you had such a good time, honey."

"I did. I loved it. Thank you."

"You're welcome, kiddo. I'm glad we got to see it with you. We'll see you again over Christmas break."

Kurt moved in close. "Don't tell anyone where you're going, please, Dad. I mean saying 'Florida' is okay, but don't be specific. I don't think any of them would fly there, but I don't want to find out. I want to have a nice relaxing time."

"I know, I know."

"Okay. Carole's not saying anything is she?"

"I don't think so."

"Make sure, okay?"

"I will."

He hugged both of them and they headed off to their car. Art waited with Thad while Sebastian and Kurt retrieved their bags from Art's car. After they got back, all of them waited together for the car service to pick the guys up to take them back to Dalton.

"The car service will pick you up to take you to the airport for winter break. Just call and tell them the exact time to pick you up. I already let them know you'd be calling."

"Thank you, Art. You've done so much already, but I appreciate it. We'll call. Thanks for having my parents over to your place today. It was really nice."

"Thanks for the glass blowing class," Thad said. "That was really cool and something I had never imagined having the opportunity to try."

"You're both welcome. You're both good friends to Sebastian and true friends are few and far between in this world. He's a lucky guy to have found two so young."

Sebastian hugged his dad. "Thanks for everything. I'll see you Thursday. I'll just ride with them to the airport and then have the driver bring me to the house."

"Okay. Matilda will be there if you need anything before I get home."

The car pulled up. They waved at Art and climbed in the back.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next three days were finals. There were no more Warblers rehearsals, but a Christmas party had been set for Wednesday after dinner. They had drawn names the week before for a gift exchange with a $20 limit.

Kurt had drawn Xavier's name and managed to find out the names of a few of his favorite bands and ordered one of their CDs that had been recently released from Amazon. Thad had drawn Jeff's name. He found a cool rowing themed t-shirt on Amazon and ordered at the same time that Kurt had order Xavier's CD. Sebastian wouldn't say whose name he had drawn.

Finals days were strange because they had two finals each day. One from 9:00-11:00. Then the other from 1:00-3:00. 1st/2nd period on Monday. 3rd/4th period on Tuesday, 5th/6th period on Wednesday, and 7th period on Thursday morning. But since the Warblers met during 7th period, Kurt, Thad, and Sebastian were finished Wednesday. Kurt and Thad had bought tickets to fly out Thursday morning.

Wednesday after Kurt had finished his last final, he went up to the third floor kitchen and made a few batches of cookies for the party with supplies that had magically appeared in a brown paper sack he had just about tripped over on his way out their room door that morning.

He carried the cookies down to the first floor and stored them in their room to keep them safe until the party.

Someone had gone to the party store and brought back some ridiculous, but funny Christmas-themed games. They played Pin the Tail on Rudolph and Bounce the Reindeer Nose into a cup and some others. They watched the old Rudolph movie and then exchanged the gifts.

Nick had drawn Thad's name and gave him personalized guitar picks and some nice stave paper.

Sebastian had drawn Kurt's name and gave him a beautiful deep plum cardigan that Kurt was sure had cost more than $20. Sebastian just shrugged his shoulders when Kurt gave him a questioning look. Kurt ran his hands over it because it was so soft and then he put it on. Sebastian smiled.

Jeff loved the t-shirt Thad had gotten him and Xavier was really excited about the CD.

Sebastian gave Kurt a smirk when he opened his gift from Richard. He knew that Richard had gone to Kurt to find out what to get him the instant he saw that it was _Inheritance_. Kurt knew that he had started reading the series back in 2005 when he was 11 and was really looking forward to reading the final book in the series.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian knocked on their door about 30 minutes after the party had ended. He was in his pajamas and his glasses again, holding _Inheritance_ in his hand. He walked right in, pulled the covers back and got in the bed he considered to be his. He fluffed the pillow up so he could read and pulled the covers up.

"Comfortable?" Kurt asked.

"Very. Thank you for asking." Sebastian smirked. "And thank you for telling Richard that I wanted this book. I can start reading it sooner."

"Well, you're welcome. I'm certain that you broke the rules of the gift exchange. There's no way that beautiful sweater cost $20 or less."

"$20, $200, $2million. Doesn't matter. It wasn't that much and you like it and it looks good on you."

"Well, thank you. I love it."

"Did you already pack? We're still working on finishing up."

Thad came out of the bathroom with a few things. They had most of what they needed in the condo already.

Thad looked through the suitcase to double-check everything. "I think that's it. You can look to be sure."

Kurt looked through and didn't see anything missing. He sat on the bed with Sebastian. "So are you going to tell us what your planning for Florida? You at least need to tell us the day so that we don't plan something the same day."

"Okay, I'll give you that much. It's on the 3rd, all day."

"Alright. Do we need anything special like a certain type of clothes or anything?"

"Nope, what I saw in the suitcase will work just fine. Except, did you pack a hoodie?"

"We both are just going to wear our football hoodies on the way there and leave our coats behind."

"That will be perfect. Nothing else that I can think of."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"We'll see you next Friday!" Kurt yelled as he and Thad went through the doors into the airport.

Kurt and Thad landed in Miami about 2:00. They opted to take a taxi to the condo because Ellen and Donovan had rented a car to use when they arrived the next evening.

They put their stuff inside and left their hoodies behind. They decided that being cold for 2 minutes was better than Thad flying in jeans that were never quite comfortable over the brace, so they were already wearing shorts. They headed back out. Thad put his folded his crutch into the backpack Kurt was wearing, just in case he needed it. He had gotten a new brace on Tuesday and he really loved it compared to the old one. It had only four strap areas and they could be adjusted to fit and then left in place because they had a clicking mechanism to fasten them in. Also, the knee area wasn't locked into place. It was free moving to a certain point that allowed a more normal gait while wearing it. It also released with a simple push of a button on both sides, so he could sit down more easily.

They left hand in hand. "You can walk a lot faster with that new brace."

"I know. I love it. It feels so much more natural now. I feel a lot more stable too since I can bend my knee a little. It sounds weird, but it's true."

"I'm just glad you're getting better. With that new brace, I bet you can handle uneven surfaces more easily since you said you feel more stable."

"Probably. We'll have to try walking in the grass at some point and see."

"I've decided what I want to get all of us for Christmas, us including Sebastian."

"And what's that?"

"I want us to find a nice soft hoodie with Florida on it. It will be a fun, but useful souvenir. I don't always want to wear my football hoodie and it's my only one."

"We'll start looking in the shops we pass. We want to find good quality ones, not just the cheep tourist ones that won't last."

Thad enjoyed watching the real Kurt come back to the surface. It didn't take long before Kurt was pointing out lizards and birds and then cute artsy pieces in storefronts. It was like seeing him transform. His gait became more bouncy and less rigid. He even talked more animatedly. He realized that he was going to have to warn Sebastian NOT to tease Kurt or he would retreat back into his shell again, which was not on Thad's agenda for their vacation.

"Look! It's like a lizard party. There are so many of them. They're so cute." Kurt pointed to a tree trunk that had a bunch of lizards running up it.

Thad smiled. "Maybe they're late for an important date."

Kurt laughed. "I'm sure they must be."

"We'll need to get Sebastian some water shoes so he can walk on the beach."

"We'll see when he gets here. Maybe he can just wear my dad's."

"Let's eat over there." Kurt pointed to a sandwich shop across the street.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Oranges, definitely oranges. And then let's get some stuff to make a huge, huge salad. We can have it tonight with something. Chicken? Pork? And tomorrow we can have the leftovers for lunch. And eggs." Kurt was talking to himself.

Thad just smiled. Happy Kurt made him smile.

"Alright, let's just go through here and pick all of the vegetables we like and we can even have two different kinds of salad, Mr. Rabbit."

"You like salad, right? You can have something different if you want. I'll make you anything you want." Kurt sounded concerned.

"I know you would. Salad is fine. How about turkey bacon to go with the eggs? We'll go shopping again, probably tomorrow as soon as Mom and Dad get here. Then we'll have a car and we can buy whatever we want."

"That sounds good." Kurt said suddenly.

"What?" Thad looked around to see what Kurt had seen.

"I saw a container of salsa. We could make one of the salads be sort of spicy with some homemade pico de gallo and some hot peppers. Oh, and definitely spicy pork."

"Sounds good."

They grabbed everything they needed, paid, and packed it all in the backpack, except the eggs, which Kurt carried by themselves in a bag.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Dinner was delicious. Sorry I couldn't help more. I was lot more tired than I realized."

"You helped plenty. You chopped up lots of veggies. That was a big help."

"I'm not sure how we're going to make the showering work now. It's too cold to shower outside at night. And my parents will be upstairs."

"Well, the shower stool that's here is smaller than the one we normally use. Maybe it will fit in the downstairs shower stall and you can shower in there."

"By myself?" he pouted.

"Did you forget how?"

"No." He rolled his eyes. "I just don't want to. I guess I'll have to just be lonely in the shower when they're here."

"I'll sleep on you or you can sleep on me. We'll snuggle extra."

"Well, I'll take all of the snuggles I can get. I'll go upstairs. We'll have one last nice shower tonight."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"The sofa bed is more comfortable than I expected it to be," Kurt said.

"Scoot over here." Thad moved his arm so Kurt could lay his head down on his chest.

Kurt's phone rang. He rolled over and got up to get it off the end table.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Hello?"

"Hey Kurt. I have a dilemma. I didn't know Finn was home and he overheard me and your dad talking about going to Florida. He's upset that he wasn't included. He's hurt because he feels like you're excluding him."

"Well, I don't have a good answer. People who know him probably use the Find my Friends app and can find him. He posts to Facebook and has his page set to public, despite my nagging him last year to change it."

"Well, that's changing as soon as I hang up with you. He can't have his Facebook page public with Burt being in Congress."

"I agree. But as to what to do, I don't know. Thad and I can fly somewhere else, but then we'd all have to stay in a hotel and that drastically changes the cost of what was supposed to be a low-cost mini-vacation for the two of you. Finn can't come here. I'm sorry. He's not private enough about his life. All it would take is one photo of 'Look at the cool place I ate lunch' and someone could figure out where Thad and I live when we aren't at school."

"I understand. Let me talk to your dad about finances and see what we come up with."

"You could stay at a hotel in Miami. That's not that far from here. We could meet places and spend time together. But you're looking at adding probably $800 to your cost and that's if you stay in a room with Finn. It would be twice that if you get separate rooms. Plus, the extra cost of eating in restaurants instead of in the condo with us. That like doubles the cost of eating and then adding Finn to the food budget, that like doubles it again."

"I know sweetie. It's an expensive time of the year to want to go to Florida, especially at the last minute. When everyone is out of school and everyone wants to travel some place warm, the prices are higher."

"I wish I could say 'Just bring him to the condo with you'. But a Facebook post got me a concussion, bruised ribs, a sliced up forearm, and a rebroken arm. And the last time I met up with Finn, my car was set on fire the same night. I'm happy here. It's like the only place where I can completely relax that I currently have access to."

"I'll call you back tomorrow. It may be that we have to cancel."

"I understand. I'm really sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Kurt. You need a happy place. I understand."

"If you want, we can rearrange our flight and we could fly to Washington, DC, if Dad has someplace for us all to stay. We could head there on the 4th and stay through the 8th and then fly back to Ohio from there."

"I'll work on it and call back tomorrow."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad opened his eyes to find Kurt staring at him. "Good morning, handsome."

"You have the most gorgeous eyes." Thad said as he reached over and gently ran his thumb over Kurt's cheek. "Good morning to you, beautiful."

"Let's make breakfast."

"Let's kiss and snuggle."

"You have such good ideas." Kurt slid forward and kissed him gently. "I'll be right back."

Kurt went to the bathroom before going downstairs. He brought back two glasses of orange juice. Thad had put his brace on by the time he got back and also went to the bathroom, came back and took the brace back off. He drank his orange juice and lay back down with Kurt.

"Now, back to the kissing?"

"Definitely."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After spending the rest of the morning in the hammock after breakfast, Kurt and Thad finally got dressed and headed out for a walk. They looked in quite a few stores and picked the nicest Florida hoodies they had found. Kurt didn't want them to look like triplets so they picked different colors for each of them. Kurt picked a pine green one with neon green letters on it for Sebastian. He picked a deep burgundy one with salmon orange letters for himself and Thad chose a navy blue one with neon royal blue letters on it. At Kurt's insistence, he paid for Sebastian's since it was his idea.

To be funny, Kurt bought some wrapping paper and three gift tags and asked one of the workers to write on them indicating they were from Santa. Thad just shook his head and laughed at him.

We need green and red construction paper and a stapler. Kurt asked the same worker who had helped him with the gift tags where the closest place to get construction paper was. She gave him the name of a store and directions.

They went and bought the paper and a mini-stapler since Thad wasn't sure that there was one in the condo. Kurt also picked up a pair of scissors and a ruler. He put everything in the bag he already had and they headed back to the condo.

"So, what are the craft supplies for?"

"Well, it doesn't look festive in here and I don't want to go to the expense of buying a tree and ornaments and lights. So, we're going to make a festive chain. As long as we can with the paper we've got."

Kurt pulled out the supplies and put them on the kitchen table. "We'll need a pencil or pen."

"Top drawer on the right." Thad pointed to the kitchen junk drawer. "That's where we keep everything like that."

Kurt grabbed a pencil. "Do you want to draw the lines or cut first?"

"Um, draw the lines?"

"Okay. Just use the ruler and make as many short strips as you can. I'll start cutting once you have a whole sheet done."

Thad followed the directions. After a few sheets, they traded jobs. They traded back and forth until all of the sheets were cut.

"So, now we just loop them, alternating colors and staple the loops together."

Thad looped, Kurt stapled. They continued until all of the strips had been turned into loops and attached.

"Wow, that is a long chain. Where are we going to put it?"

"All around the top of the ceiling in the front room. Will your parents mind if we tape it up? If we can't, then will just have to lay it across the tops of the stuff hanging on the wall and do the best we can."

"Let's go down to the hardware store and get green painter's tape. That should hold it up and not damage the paint at all."

"Good idea."

"But let's eat lunch first. I know it's late, but my parents will want to go out for dinner around 7:00 or later. We'll be really hungry if we wait that long to eat."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I feel really weird not getting your parents a gift. Are you sure I can't get them one? Maybe just a fruit basket or something. Some chocolates?" Kurt asked as they were walking to the hardware store.

"Will you feel bad if you don't?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, I'll take you to the candy store they both like and you can get them a small bag of their favorites. Is that a suitable solution?"

"Yes. It's not the amount of money spent, it's that I want to get them something they'll enjoy. They accepted me from the very beginning. They're just so nice. I'd feel bad not giving them a gift."

"You were surprised they liked you?" Thad felt sad thinking about that.

"Well, it's not like I had a lot of experience meeting adults who were okay with gay kids. Some people are okay with their own kids, like my dad. I mean he hasn't been the model of acceptance when he keeps excluding you when he comes to Westerville. Your parents never once treated me like an outsider. They just were like 'Welcome to the family.' from the moment we walked up the sidewalk when they surprised us here last spring."

"Well, I'm glad they made you feel welcome. They love you. My mom has told me so many times how amazing you are and how glad she is that I found someone who loves me so much."

"Well that's definitely true. I love you. I'm still working on believing the amazing part."

"Hopefully you'll get there one day because it's true."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I like it," Kurt said. "What do you think?"

"It's definitely more festive now."

"I'm going to wrap everything. Is there anything else seasonal in the house anywhere? Red candles? A table cloth?"

"I'll look around while you wrap."

A few minutes later, Thad came back laughing. "I found this. It's from when I was a kid. It's an inflatable Christmas tree."

"Blow it up. Let's see if it still holds air."

Kurt kept wrapping and Thad inflated the tree.

"We'll see in an hour or less whether it leaks. Where do you want me to put it?"

"Would your parents get upset if we moved the TV down to the end and put it on the credenza with the TV?"

"Nah. My parents really don't get upset about much of anything." Thad carefully moved the TV to one end. He retrieved the blow-up tree and sat it on the other end.

"You can put the bags of candy next to the tree. I'm going to put the three of these upstairs in our suitcase to keep them out of the way until after your parents leave."

"Will you bring down the two boxes of candy that I got them too?"

"Sure." Kurt ran up and came right back down.

"Did you find anything else?"

"Look in the lower drawers. If we have a tablecloth, it's probably in there."

"Nope."

"Oh well. Like I said, my parents aren't really into material possessions. So, my mom probably never thought there was a need for a seasonal tablecloth that would only get used a few days a year."

"Makes sense. We have a red tablecloth and a green one that I use for all of the holidays. Either one for Christmas. The green one for Thanksgiving, Halloween and Easter. The red one for Valentine's Day and all of the patriotic holidays. And then I made table runners that are reversible to go with the two tablecloths. So, one has hearts on one side and a Christmas theme on the other. One has a Thanksgiving theme on one side and a Halloween theme on the other, and the last one has a flag print on one side and an Easter/spring theme on the other. So, not a lot of stuff, just minimal, but it makes the holidays fun."

"That sounds cool. When we get our own place you can make some for us."

When Thad said things like that, Kurt's heart just melted. Thad always talked about the future with such certainty. "You'd like it if I did?"

"Of course. You don't have to give up what you love. You know that right? My parents always talk about how being married isn't a compromise, it the ultimate cooperative endeavor."

"What do you mean?"

"Compromise is when both sides give up what they really want in order to reach an even or equal level of mutual dislike of the outcome. One person wants apples. One person wants oranges. Compromise is that they both eat grapes."

"Okay."

"But in a cooperative situation both sides do everything they can to make sure that both parties reach an even or equal level of mutual enjoyment from the outcome. One person wants apples. One person wants oranges. Cooperation is making a fruit salad with both and adding grapes or just letting each person eat what they want without imposing any restrictions on the other person's choice."

"That's a really interesting way to look at things. I don't think I've ever thought about it in those specific terms, but I think the two of us cooperate rather than compromise. I think my natural tendency is to respond to conflict with other people or within myself by asking 'What I can do to make this work?' rather than 'How can I get my way?'"

"I agree. We've never really had a fight, but when we've wanted to do different things, we talk about it and we work to make the outcome something we both enjoy or accomplishes both of our goals."

"I just remembered something." Kurt got up and went upstairs and came back down carrying the shower stool. "You'll need this down here tonight."

"Ugh. Don't remind me. Showering all alone." He pouted.

"Well, before they get here, come in the bathroom with me. Let's see if both of us can fit in the shower with the stool in there. We'll leave the water off and get in fully dressed just to see if we can fit."

"Good idea."

They went in the bathroom and fiddled with the placement of the stool, but there wasn't much leeway.

"I'm sure to enjoy the view," Thad said.

Kurt blushed. "If you want to be up-close-and-personal in the shower, I will still shower with you. If you decide you'd like room to be able to move more than a few inches, we can take turns." Kurt got out of the shower and walked toward the bathroom door.

"I'm not a big fan of personal space when it comes to you." Thad stood and locked the knee mechanism so he could walk and followed Kurt.

Kurt blushed more.

"You're gorgeous, you know. I'd just sit and look at you, if you'd let me." Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt from behind.

Kurt turned in his embrace and kissed him. "Maybe some day."

"Mmm. Something to look forward to." Thad continued the kisses, holding him close.

"Aren't your parents supposed to be here soon?"

"They don't care if we kiss." Thad said between kisses.

Kurt pulled back a bit. "Seriously, they wouldn't be bothered or upset to walk in on us kissing like this?"

"Nah. I've seen them kiss. They never hid the fact that they loved each other. I certainly don't think they expect us to act like platonic friends just because they're here."

"Your parents are from another dimension."

"Could be. I don't think I've ever asked them that question." Thad laughed.

"We've been dating long enough that my parents mostly like assume that we've been having sex for months."

"What?"

"They're not really the 'sex is taboo' type of parents."

"They really are from another dimension." Kurt laughed. "You must have thought my dad was out of his mind with the things I told you."

"I did think he was behaving pretty old-fashioned, especially the 'deflowering my virgin maiden daughter' thing you mentioned. But he seems a nice enough guy, just a lot overprotective. But like you said, your situation in Lima wasn't exactly normal, so him behaving the way my parents do wouldn't be expected. I appreciated the fact that you stood up for us. And that you told your dad that it was your choice and your body and that when you were ready, we'd talk and make our own decisions."

"Let's go out in the hammock for a little while. They're supposed to get here in 30 minutes, so we'll come back inside in 20."

Kurt helped Thad in and then climbed in.

"I want to ask you something," Thad said.

"Go ahead."

"Have you put off being ready because you're afraid you'll hurt me?"

"Not exactly. I think it's more that I've put off thinking about it because I'm afraid I'll hurt you."

"Same difference, more or less. I've told you lots of times that it doesn't hurt at all when you lie on me or if I lie on you. Do you think I'm not telling you the truth?"

"No. It's just complicated I guess. I don't really know what to expect once we let ourselves move to that point and I guess that lingering feeling of hurting you accidentally has been there for so many months that it doesn't go away just because you say it doesn't hurt. I guess I feel like it doesn't hurt right then, but what if?... And my mind wanders and I don't even think of specific things that could happen that would hurt you, but it's just this vague lingering feeling."

"I see. So, even a doctor's note isn't going to miraculously fix that nagging feeling?"

"You'd ask a doctor for a note?" Kurt asked incredulously.

"If it would ease your mind, yes."

"Oh," he paused. "I guess the other thing is that we've never really talked about how we'd do it."

"Right. Do you want to talk about that? Or are you still on the 'Not yet' page?"

"We'll, I've never talked about it with anyone, ever. So, it's kind of uncomfortable."

"Do you want to hear me talk about it? Or do you just want to talk about something else now and table this discussion for later?"

"Go ahead." Their hands were already interlaced and Kurt pulled Thad's hand up to his lips and kissed his knuckles.

"Well, I can't say that I thought a lot about it until we'd been dating for a while. But after the accident, our level of intimacy jumped when you had to start to bathe me. And after that, my ideas became a lot more clear. I'm sure that my leg being in the brace played into the dreams I'd have because they alternated between me being on my back, missionary style, or me being on my back and you riding me."

Kurt was glad it was pitch dark outside because he was tomato red he had blushed so much.

"That's very specific."

"I told you I think the injured leg played into it because my brain was coming up with ways for it to happen without me or you putting any weight on my leg."

"Okay."

"I can also say with certainty that I would not be into a dom/sub kind of thing."

"Me neither. I wince at bumping your leg. I could never do anything that would intentionally hurt you, not even a tiny bit. I think that may be the secondarily cause of my reluctance to even bring the topic up. The idea of me hurting you, not your leg, you know what I mean, just makes me want to forget the whole idea."

"I understand. I do. But from everything I've read, if we're careful, it shouldn't hurt much. There's got to be some serious upsides or guys wouldn't be so into it. They'd just stick with other methods of release."

"It never really appealed to me to be on the receiving end, but I also feel like I should be willing to try, if nothing else just to know what it feels like and how to do a good job of making you feel good. And just because something doesn't seem appealing at first, doesn't mean that it actually is unappealing. I mean who would think that artichokes actually taste good?"

Thad laughed. "I can't really say why, but I'm not bothered by seeing myself in that role. I think having you... well, I think it will be amazing. You put so much care and effort into everything. Even if it isn't 'perfect' or we end up laughing at ourselves because we can't get it to work 'right', it will still be amazing. So, if that's part of what worries you, that I'll be upset if it's not 'perfect' or if we bungle the whole thing, it will be fine. How I feel about you isn't going to change because we don't get it right the first time."

"That was the best long-winded version of 'I love you, no matter what.'"

"Well, it's true. Even if we try it, even both ways and neither one of us likes it either way, I won't stop loving you."

Kurt turned on his side and wrapped his arms around Thad's neck. "I love you so much." Their gentle kisses grew in intensity until they heard, "Thad? Kurt?" and then the back porch light came on.

"We're in the hammock, Mom."

"Oh, well come inside. We brought dinner. We thought we'd just eat here, get some sleep and then go out shopping for food early tomorrow morning and beat the last-minute crowds."

"Alright," Kurt said as he carefully got out of the hammock. He helped Thad out and they turned the light off after the got inside.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"The decorations are fun. I see you found your old inflatable tree," Ellen laughed.

"I like the paper chain," Donovan said. It reminds me of being a kid in school. I must have been 9 or 10. We made a really long one like this but with smaller loops and we decorated the tree in the school lobby with it. The other classes made paper ornaments. It was a lot of fun."

"Sounds like it," Kurt said.

Ellen had put four containers on the table. "We stopped at a Cuban place we like. It's sort of like fajitas. I hope that's okay."

"I'm sure it's fine. I'm not a pick eater," Kurt said.

They sat down to eat at the table. They ate without a lot of conversation. Ellen and Donovan were clearly tired.

"How about a Christmas movie and then we'll head to bed?"

"Sure, Mom." He and Kurt cleared the table. "You pick."

Ellen looked through the DVDs. How about _Polar Express_?"

"I've never actually seen that one," Kurt said.

"Really? The animation is really good. Put it in." Thad said as he turned off the kitchen light.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt waited for Thad to come in and let Donovan and Ellen choose a spot first. Donovan turned the oversized chair around to face the TV and sat down. Ellen sat down in the chair with him and curled up in his lap. It surprised Kurt at first, then he remembered what Thad had said about they way they had never hidden their love for each other.

Kurt sat on the left end of the couch and extended his left leg, leaving his right leg on the floor. Thad sat down on the front edge of the space, near the middle and took his brace off. He slid back up against Kurt so that his left leg was extended as well and he leaned back against Kurt's chest. Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad, who put his hands over the tops of Kurt's and interwove his fingers with Kurt's.

Occasionally, Kurt glanced at Donovan and Ellen. They weren't doing anything risqué, but Kurt saw what Thad was trying to explain earlier. Ellen was leaning on Donovan's chest and he was running his hands through her hair. She was gently caressing his other arm. Nothing more. They were both watching the movie, but still engaged affectionately with each other.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When the movie ended, Kurt got up his nerve and asked them a question. "How long have you two been together? How did you meet?"

"To answer your first question, we've been together 27 years. Our 25th wedding anniversary was last July."

"That's really cool," Kurt said. "Congratulations."

"We can talk more tomorrow," Ellen said. "I'm beat. Let's be ready to go shopping at 8:00. That way we can be back long before lunch."

"We can do that," Thad said as he reached for his brace to put it back on so he could stand up.

Kurt noticed that neither of his parents really even seemed to notice how Thad had been reclining on him, or they did notice, but it didn't faze them at all. It was so odd, but really nice. They walked past and headed upstairs to sleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad came back from their shower and Kurt noticed that he had two missed calls when he plugged his phone in to charge it. Both were from Carole.

"Hey Carole. Sorry, I was in the shower. What's up?"

"Well, I talked to Finn. He's mostly mad that you're in Florida for the third time in a year and he's still never been. So, meeting up in DC isn't what he wants. I explained to him that where you are in Florida is your safe place. And that he can't know where it is because it's dangerous for you for anyone at McKinley to know where you go when you're not in school. He understood that, but he really wants to go to Florida."

"I can understand that. It's beautiful here."

"I'm going to offer him the chance to go to Florida for spring break on his own. He needs to save up his money and show that it means something to him and then Burt and I will help him to some extent. He'll need to find at least one person to go with him who is willing to split the lodging cost and buy their own airplane ticket. He's still working, so he could easily save the money to go to Disney World or whatever he wants to do."

"Seems fair enough. I paid for my airplane ticket and my own food. I did have the ability to stay here without having to pay for a hotel though."

"I know, but you paid for your AP exams. That's close to the cost of a cheap motel for spring break, if the room is shared."

"True. And he has 9 or 10 weeks to save up for the hotel part."

"And he'll have even more time to work, if he drops out of Glee like he's been talking about."

"Why would he drop out of Glee?"

"He did it because it was fun. 'Blainchel', as he calls them, are making it so that it's no longer enjoyable. I wouldn't be surprised if Puck doesn't quit too. He started paying Miss Corcoran back, but he's got a long way to go because he has to use the money he makes to support his family too. I was broken hearted when Finn told me what Puck had been doing to make extra money over the summers. I'm not part of the 'in-crowd' with a pool. I didn't know what had been going on. Finn quit his weekend job and Puck went with him and asked if he could replace Finn. The manager is giving him a chance to prove he can be a good worker. Finn's picking up hours at the shop instead. He's doing better with learning how to do things. He does a lot of tire changes, balancing, and oil changes now. So, Burt is paying him a little more since he's not just doing inventory and cleaning."

"I'm sad to hear about Glee. What are Blaine and Rachel doing?"

"Well, according to Finn, Blaine has replaced him as the male lead. So, Finn is stuck in the background."

"Ah. Blaine is used to the limelight, like Rachel. I'd say they are truly two of a kind. He doesn't have the boy next door sound like Finn does though. He's definitely a good fit for Rachel voice though. I know he was mad at me for a long time for bring Blaine to Rachel's party, but I swear until the moment Blaine agreed to go on a date with Rachel that he had assured me that he was gay. I had zero idea that he would ever even consider dating a girl. He and I got in an argument because I got mad at him for leading Rachel on by agreeing to go out with her."

"I see. So, he's bi?"

"He says he is. Who am I to say he's not? I guess Rachel's just the first girl he was ever interested in. Maybe he just never liked any of the girls that were paraded around by his parents in hopes that one of them would catch Blaine's eye. His parents used to have dinner parties with people of their own social standing and they would bring their eligible daughters to the dinners. Maybe he just likes loud, opinionated, Broadway-singing divas."

"Kurt," she said sternly.

"That was meant as a compliment. Clearly Blaine is attracted to that. The girls at the dinners were all wallflower, compliant, marry-who-my-family-says types. The type that laugh because they're supposed to and know all of the proper etiquette rules. Maybe that type of girl isn't attractive to him so he just never thought he liked girls."

"Anything is possible, I suppose. But Finn doesn't feel like he has a place in the club anymore."

"Sounds like he needs you two around more than I do right now. I got to see you earlier this week. And we can make arrangements to meet again. Why don't you get just your airline tickets refunded and take Finn to the sports Hall of Fame or something monster truck rally that he and Dad would enjoy. If he's that bummed out leaving him home alone for four days doesn't seem like a good idea. I'll be fine. Thad's here with me. I'm not alone. His parents are here too. Sebastian's coming next week."

"That's not much of a solution for me. I've never been to Florida either and I've really been looking forward to it."

"Well, then come by yourself and leave Dad and Finn home to do the manly-men stuff they love so much."

"I'll think about it some more. I'll let you go for now."

"Good night."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt decided that he didn't want to talk about the phone call. Thad had been lying right next to him the whole time and had heard everything that was said. He plugged his phone back up and chose Thad as his pillow. Thad happily moved his arm and let Kurt lie down on his chest. He ran his hand though Kurt's hair and Kurt murmured, almost like a purring cat.

"Not close enough," Kurt said quietly. He pulled his shirt off over his head and got Thad to do the same. Kurt asked, "Can I lie on you, all the way?"

"Yes." Thad lifted the sheet so Kurt could move more easily.

Kurt straddled him then slid down until he was lying on Thad. He propped himself on his elbows and ran his hands through Thad's hair and started kissing him on his neck. "Okay?"

"So okay. Perfect."

"I wanna try what you did in the shower, if it's okay with you."

"Really?"

"Yeah."


	15. Chapter 15

Kurt and Thad were up and dressed at 7:50. They folded the couch back up and sat down to wait for Ellen and Donovan. A few minutes later, they came down the stairs ready to go.

They went to a large grocery store and stocked up on everything. Ellen had planned a menu for their meal that evening and for Christmas Day lunch. The rest of the stuff they bought were just staple items that could be combined in any way to make meals.

Kurt and Thad grabbed a separate cart and went through the store picking out anything they specifically wanted. Thad grabbed more turkey bacon. Kurt grabbed some chocolate chips, some bananas and a small package of walnuts. He also picked up 2 bags of frozen peas and carrots, four bags of frozen mixed vegetables, two cans of tomato juice, a pound each of dried kidney beans, black beans and rice, two pounds of ground turkey, and a pound of boneless chicken thighs. They went to find the spices and Kurt picked up a few small jars of things he used frequently.

Thad and Kurt found Ellen and Donovan in the store.

"Looks like vegetable soup, chicken soup and chili? Banana bread? And Thad's bacon."

"I can make a large batch of each when it's just the two of us. And the banana bread is good for breakfast with yogurt, which I forgot. I'll be right back." They got in line and Kurt returned quickly with two large containers of plain yogurt and a honey bear. "Canned soup is outrageously priced. For $6.00 I can make the equivalent of 8 cans of soup that cost $3 each."

"And his tastes way better than canned soup," Thad added, smiling proudly while boasting about Kurt's cooking skills.

"Well, I figured he was a good cook, you didn't look any worse for the wear eating all his homemade food all summer. I know you hardly ever ate out."

"I enjoy eating out, but it's like an event - like going to the movies. You pay for the experience. So, I tend to not go to fast food places where they food is just not that good. I like trying new things, like we went to the German Village a few weeks ago in Columbus and the three of us tried German food. That was fun."

"You two and Sebastian?" she asked.

"Yeah," Thad answered.

"He was new this fall, right? I never heard you talk about him last year," she asked Thad.

"Yeah. He started at the beginning of the school year. He's Kurt's long lost French brother," Thad said and laughed.

Ellen tilted her head and looked puzzled.

"Sebastian has a way of driving Kurt crazy all while being totally awesome and supportive. The way I always imagined those sibling rivalries of 'We may scuffle, but you aren't allowed to dis my brother' type of siblings. Sebastian will whack Kurt with a pillow, knock him to the bed and tickle him. But if someone else tried to do something to Kurt, I think he might deck them."

"He did. In Columbus, remember?"

"Well, I'm glad you two have a good friend. Is he staying after the school year ends?" Donovan asked.

"That's something that's on our list to talk to you about at home," Thad said.

"Alright," Donovan said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt helped Ellen put all of the groceries away. They were having subs for brunch since they didn't eat before they left and it was getting close to lunch.

Ellen and Kurt put all of the deli meats and cheese out on a couple of plates. Kurt sliced the bread, the onion and the tomatoes. Ellen put the condiments on the table. They all served themselves. Once everyone had their food, Thad brought up the topic of college.

"I know that I had said I was thinking of applying to places here in the States, but I've changed my mind. I'm applying to places in France. We're going to move to France as soon as we graduate."

"What made you change your mind?" Donovan asked.

"Honestly, I want to be with Kurt and he's not going to stay here any longer than he has to. When we were here at Thanksgiving he applied for his French ID card and a French Passport, which he should get fairly soon. It will be practically free for Kurt to go to college there and it won't cost much for me to go since I have UK citizenship."

"My Navigator being set on fire was the last straw for me, honestly."

"When did that happen? Thad didn't say anything."

"It was three weeks ago. I asked him not to say anything at the time. I just couldn't talk about it or think about it for a while. I wasn't planning to keep it a secret. I was just so busy with making the costumes for my portfolio and studying for finals that I just had to put it out of my mind as best I could."

"I understand," Ellen said.

Kurt continued. "My dad bought that Navigator dead. I fixed every last thing that was wrong with it myself. It took a lot of time. A lot. The day it happened, I met my stepbrother about an hour away from Westerville and about an hour from Lima late that afternoon. I bribed him with a buffet dinner and gas money. He brought all of my boxed up clothes that I had packed the weekend I went home without Thad last spring. I got back from meeting him and it was dark since it gets dark so early this time of year. The security guard put my box of shoes inside the door of the building because they were in the front seat blocking him from getting in. He rode with me to a parking spot and I brought my coats that were on hangers inside with me. At 2:00 in the morning, we heard fire trucks. Someone had set my Navigator on fire with my entire winter wardrobe in the back."

"That's awful," Ellen said sadly.

"I had paid for all of those clothes working in my dad's garage. You both know I'm a mechanic."

They both nodded.

"Well, I was on staff at the garage until I came to Dalton last fall. My dad doesn't really believe in giving kids that are old enough to work an allowance. So, I had worked a lot of hours to buy all of those clothes. As dumb as it sounds and probably is, they were like a part of me. They were a way of expressing myself. I know I owned too many. I know some of them were ridiculous. But it was like this personal journey. I had weeded out the ridiculous stuff last spring along with the things that didn't fit or I no longer liked. I lost everything that I had kept. Thad and Sebastian helped, even Carole helped. I washed everything over and over again following the directions I found online on how to get smoke damage out of clothing. But it was a losing battle. Almost everything I had ever worked for went up in flames or was destroyed by the water and smoke."

"Oh, Kurt. People are just awful sometimes."

"I'm sure it was deliberate. I think someone followed Finn from Lima and overheard Finn talking in the parking lot about how many clothes I had. I was teased a lot about the way I dressed. Boys in designer clothes are not popular in Lima. And a lot of the guys didn't think a 'fairy' deserved such a manly vehicle. So, someone took both out in one raging ball of fire."

"Was anyone arrested?"

"I didn't bother to file a police report other than the one that was taken when the fire department put out the fire. There are no security cameras and no evidence. But that was the last straw for me. Art, Sebastian's dad, has a car service on call that he hired for the three of us now. He took Sebastian's car away because he's afraid that someone will endanger us by tampering with it since it was the car we were using to drive into Columbus and to go to Sebastian's on the weekends."

"So, you said his name is Art?" Donovan asked.

"Yeah."

"Art is paying for a car service to pick you three up and take you places?"

"Yes. Thad and I haven't used it for just the two of us. We just stay at school."

"He did have the service drive the three of us back to school the other night after we went out with him and Kurt's parents in Columbus. And he arranged for the three of us to be picked up yesterday morning. The service dropped us at the airport, then drove Sebastian to his dad's."

"I'd like you to give me his number so I can split the cost of the car service with him. I like his idea. We'll cover half of the cost and then the two of you won't feel so hesitant to use it. I don't want the two of you to be holed up in that school 24/7."

"I'll give it to you, Dad." Thad pulled up Art's number and slid his phone over so Donovan could see the number.

"Kurt." Ellen said.

He looked at her.

"You remember what we talked about at the hospital, right?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"You know, I bet my dad will go in with the two of you. He's not paying my car insurance anymore. So, that money could be put toward the car service fee. You can call him too. Do you have his number?" Kurt pulled it up and slid his phone to Donovan as well.

He put Burt's number in and slid Kurt's phone back to him.

"Oh, but don't say anything to my dad about France. I haven't told him yet and I want to be the one to do it. I don't want him to find out from someone else."

"I understand," Donovan said. "They're coming after we leave, right?"

"Maybe. It's a mess right now. But if they don't, I'll wait until I can see him in person to tell him. He's not going to be happy at all."

"If you are certain you're going back to France, Dad and I will put in to transfer back to England. That way we can see you more often."

"That would be nice," Thad said.

"I actually need to call them and see what they've decided. I'm going to step outside for a few minutes, if that's okay."

"That's fine, sweetie."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Hey, Carole. I've been thinking about a lot of things."

"That sounds serious."

"It is. I'm torn. I want to see you two. But now, I'm afraid that because Dad got elected that people will be watching him and that someone will find out where I am. I know I sound paranoid, but watching your vehicle burn in your school parking lot will do that to a person."

"I'm sure it does. What do you want me to do?"

"I guess just stay in Ohio." Kurt started crying.

"Honey, I wish I knew a way to make this better."

"I'm sorry. I'm acting like a child."

"No, you're acting like a person whose world keeps getting turned upside down."

"Living like there's a hit out on me is taking its toll. I was being an idealist when I thought up this plan. People are watching Dad now. I'll work on us going to DC. I'll change our tickets as soon as you tell me there's a place we can stay with you two. I'm not sure what Dad is doing for a place to stay when he's there."

"He's working out the details still."

"Well, as soon as you let me know we have a place to stay with the two of you, I'll change our plane tickets and we'll spend the last few days of break in DC, depending on what I can get for last minute flights. I just can't swing paying for a place to stay because this will probably cost me $300 to change."

"Honey, we'll pay for you to change your flight, if I can figure out how to make it work in DC. I'll let you know soon. Oh, and Finn won't be there. They were off the week before you and they go back on the 2nd."

"Alright. Call me when you know."

"I will."

Kurt got in the hammock to think for a few minutes.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad started helping his mom with the dinner preparations. He sliced all of the apples, peeled the potatoes and then checked his phone. It had been over a half hour since Kurt had gone outside, closer to 40 minutes. He rinsed his hands and headed out back. He didn't see Kurt anywhere and his heart dropped. Instantly tears slipped down his cheeks. He walked farther out the back to check that no one had tampered with the gate or the lock. Then he scanned the whole fence to make sure it hadn't been damaged. That's when he realized that Kurt was in the hammock.

He approached quietly. Kurt had fallen asleep. He wouldn't like that. Thad walked over the rest of the way. "Kurt," he said quietly, hoping he could wake Kurt up just enough that he realized where he was without panicking and making the hammock flip.

Kurt stirred. He opened his eyes. "I fell asleep in the hammock. Thank you for coming to look for me. I'll get out and help you in if you'll lie with me for a while." Kurt climbed out.

"Sure. Mom will come look for us, if she needs us."

Kurt helped him in and got back in. Thad moved his arm up and Kurt rolled onto his side slowly and laid his head on Thad who then wrapped his arm around Kurt. "I asked my parents not to come. I panicked and I asked them not to come at all. I told them we'd go to DC at the end of break instead. I'm sorry. I should have come in and asked you."

"It's fine. Really. We'll still get time here together, just the two of us. It will just be different days. I'm not upset. What made you panic?"

"The thought of the fact that now that my dad's a congressman, people are going to want to know what he's doing. So many politicians have been shady over the years that people get good money for digging up dirt and selling stories of unknown truthfulness to the highest bidder. I just thought, what if someone recognized him and started photographing him and then that someone sold the photos and people in Lima saw them? It would give away where my safe place is. Like I said, I panicked."

"Given what you've been through, I think panicking is completely normal. Look up at me."

Kurt tilted his head up. Thad tilted his head down and kissed Kurt. "It's okay to want to be safe. I'm glad you feel safe here."

"You were crying. Why were you crying?"

"When I first stepped outside, I didn't see you anywhere. I freaked out."

Kurt reached up and wiped the tears away. "I promised you I wouldn't leave. I meant that."

"I was scared someone had grabbed you."

"I'm sorry. I was trying to get my head on straight, but seems like I lost the battle and I scared you in the process."

"It's okay. I should have noticed the hammock was occupied. Next time I'll pay more attention before I freak out."

Kurt inched up a little so they could kiss easier and kissed Thad. "Next time I'll text you or tell you that I'm staying outside. I didn't mean to scare you." He kissed him again.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Kurt? Thad?"

"We're in the hammock," Thad called out.

Ellen walked over to the hammock. "Well, I can see that this was a good investment. I've found you both in there twice already." She laughed.

"It's relaxing," Kurt said.

"I just wanted to let the two of you know that Donovan and I are going to go for a walk on the beach. I didn't want you two to come in and wonder where we'd gone."

"Okay. We'll probably stay here unless it gets too chilly or rains," Thad said.

"The meat is in the oven. I'll work on the vegetables when we get back."

"Thanks," Kurt said. "I'll help with the rest if you want. Just come get me when you get back."

"Alright." She walked back into the house.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Where were we?"

"Mmm. Attached at the lips I believe," Kurt said. He slipped his free hand up under Thad's shirt and ran his hand along his side.

"Good idea," Thad said and started kissing Kurt again. After a few minutes, they broke apart and just held each other.

"I'm going to call Sebastian and see if he'll tell me what he planned for the 3rd since we're changing our plans and heading to DC on the 4th before I actually call the airline and change our tickets."

"Hey Sebastian! Merry Christmas Eve."

"Hey, Kurt."

"Quick question. Can you tell me what you have planned for the 3rd?"

"Nope. It's a surprise."

"Alright, can you at least tell me if it is near Miami? We're having to change our plans and our flight. We're flying to DC on the 4th. My parents aren't coming here after all. We're meeting them in DC instead."

"Oh. Let me think for a minute. Actually, I'll call you back in about 10 minutes."

"Okay."

Thad started talking. "My mom and dad are going to take us to Miami on Monday for after Christmas shopping and to eat someplace cool."

"That sounds fun. I'm going to look for some black slacks and a couple of pairs of dark jeans. Maybe you could grab a couple of pairs of jeans too. Maybe a pair with some stretch to them so they are more comfortable over your brace. We're going to spend four days in DC that we didn't plan for. Our shorts are not going to be a viable wardrobe choice for DC in January."

"I hadn't thought about that. But you're right. The jeans I have are uncomfortable with the brace on. Some stretch in the fabric might help. We didn't bring our coats either. We're going to freeze."

"We'll just have to forego any outdoor activities. We'll wear hoodies and the jeans we buy on Monday."

"We might be able to find a warm vest. Neither of us owns one and Sebastian said it's never super cold in France like it is in Ohio. We could still wear it next winter and we'd be warmer than just in our hoodies."

"We'll see what we find when we go shopping. We may just have to stay inside in DC. We brought chucks and water shoes, not boots. If it's been snowing, I vote for staying inside."

Kurt's phone rang.

"Hey, Sebastian."

"So, I still won't tell you. But in order to be more logical, you should change your flight to DC to be out of Orlando on the 4th in the morning, rather than out of Miami."

"Okay. I won't keep you. We're looking forward to you coming. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas to both of you too."

Kurt hung up.

"Okay. I'm going to change our flight. I feel terrible because Carole's never been to Florida and she was really excited about this trip."

Kurt changed their flights and sent Carole the flight information so she could pick them up in DC.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Now, wait! I think you two are in collusion or something. I keep getting sent back to home every turn," Donovan said.

"Nope, just lucky rolls of the dice I guess," Thad said.

"Uh huh. Sure. Why don't you ever knock your mom's pieces off and send her back home?"

"Um. She made my favorite pie for dinner?"

"See. I knew it. Favoritism. Just because I didn't make you a pie," he play acted like it was just so unfair.

"Well, it was a really good pie," Kurt added.

"See. It's both of you. It's a conspiracy."

Ellen rolled the dice and moved her last piece into place. "I win!"

"Hmpf! You had help."

Ellen pretended to pout.

"Fine, fine. You won fair and square. Let's play dominoes next."

They cleaned up all of the pieces and put Aggravation away and got the dominoes out. They spent the whole evening playing one board game after another - a Harwood tradition. By the end of the evening, the winning was fairly evening divided amongst the four of them. They put all of the games back in the credenza and they headed off to get ready for bed.

After Kurt and Thad had gotten in bed, Kurt asked, "Do you all have any Christmas Day traditions?"

"Well, I guess just the big brunch we have. Since my parents have never been big into gift giving, we always have had a really low key Christmas compared to what I've heard other people describe and I've seen in movies. Usually we just sleep in until like 9:00 and then we get up and we all make a big brunch together and eat. Afterwards, we exchange gifts. One from each person, so we each ended up with three gifts. As the kid my gifts to them were always something handmade. My parents usually just got me something small like a book I wanted or some sheet music or a CD."

"And after that?"

"Well, it depended on where we were, but usually we'd go outside and do something. If we were here, we'd go down the beach obviously. When we were other places, it depended on the weather."

"So, tomorrow, we'll go down to the beach?"

"Probably. I'm not sure how that will work though."

"I don't know. Let's not worry about it. How about something to look forward to? A massage Monday when we're alone again."

"Mmm. That sounds great."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Just as Thad said, everyone slept in and then worked together to make a big brunch. Kurt's contribution was to make French toast. Ellen cut up fruit. Donovan cooked with Kurt. Thad decided that his contribution was to play Christmas songs on his guitar and when he ran out of those to just keep playing whatever came to mind. Kurt sang along to the ones he knew the words to.

Once they were all finished, they had fruit salad, turkey bacon and sausage, scrambled eggs, french toast and orange juice. They ate everything they had made and were completely stuffed. They cleaned everything up and went into the front room and sat down. Thad played his guitar some more and they sat around listening for a while.

Thad stopped and asked Kurt go to up in their suitcase and bring down the envelopes and the 2 envelopes that he had packed. Kurt went up and brought them down along with the envelope he had hidden to give to Thad.

Ellen followed him up and down, carrying two gifts with her.

Ellen handed Thad and Kurt's packages to Thad. Kurt grabbed the two bags and the two small boxes from the credenza and handed them to Donovan and Ellen. Thad handed his cards to them as well.

"You can read what's in the envelopes later. They're letters that I wrote to each of you."

"Thank you," Ellen said. She unwrapped the bag from Kurt. "I see that you've been informed of my favorite local candy. Thank you. I love these."

"And these are my favorites as well." Donovan said after opening his. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Kurt said.

They unwrapped the small boxes next. They opened them about the same time.

"Fudge?" Ellen asked.

"We went to the German Village and there was this shop. I remember you talking about fudge from when you were a kid. I got you a small piece of all of the different types they had."

"Thank you. These will be fun to taste. I haven't had fudge in ages," Ellen said.

"Turtles. I LOVE these things," Donovan said. "Do not tell me the name of this store or I will end up ordering enough to have to buy new clothes." He laughed. "These look fabulous."

"I had one when we were there. They are really good," Thad said.

"I sampled the fudge. It was sooo good," Kurt sad.

Kurt turned his package over to open it neatly. He pulled out a book. _Technical Drawing for Fashion._ He opened it and looked through it. "This is really cool. Thank you. I don't have any books like this."

"You're welcome," Ellen said. "Thad said you were working on a portfolio. I thought it might be helpful."

"I'm sure it will be."

"We wanted to get you some pencils and paper to go with it, but we were clueless when we were looking. So, when we go out shopping Monday, we'll go to an art store and you can just pick out whatever would be useful."

"Thank you."

Thad opened his package to find _The Study of Orchestration_.

"It has really good reviews. Neither of us know much about music, but hopefully it's helpful," Ellen said.

Thad looked through it. "It has a lot of information. I'm sure it will be helpful. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Usually we all go for a long walk on the beach in the afternoon. We've talked and can't figure out how to make that happen this time."

"You and dad should still go. You're only going to be here for a few days and you should take advantage of that. We'll be here when you get back. We'll enjoy the warm weather out in the hammock again."

"Are you sure, honey?"

"I'm sure. Kurt and I got to go at Thanksgiving with that beach wheelchair. And once Sebastian gets here, he and Kurt can carry me down there without my brace on and I can sit on the beach."

Kurt laughed. "Well, we can try. We need a sled. We could put you in and pull you down there more easily than we could carry you. But I bet that there's not a sled to be found anywhere around here."

"Oh, Kurt. That's the perfect idea. Let's order one on Amazon. It will get here in a couple of days. It's not so hot out that the sand would melt the plastic." She got her phone out. She searched Amazon and five minutes later, she had found what seemed to be a suitable choice and ordered it. "There. It should be here on Wednesday."

Kurt laughed. "Well, I guess we'll see how it works."

Ellen and Donovan put on water shoes and left for the beach.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt gave Thad the envelope that he had brought downstairs with him earlier.

"Merry Christmas."

Thad opened the envelope and read the letter inside. By the time he had finished, there were tears in his eyes. He leaned over and kissed Kurt. "I love you. That was... thank you."

"There's something else in the envelope."

Thad opened it back up and found the other piece of paper. It was a print out about a recording studio in Columbus. Thad looked at him.

"I paid for an hour of studio time so you could record your auditions."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You just have to call and set up the time."

"That will be so cool. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Kurt kissed him.

Thad handed Kurt a small thin wrapped present that he slipped out of his mom's envelope before giving it to her.

Kurt unwrapped it to find an old iPod nano. He turned it on and it had one playlist called "The Story of Us".

"While you were working on the costumes the last couple of weeks, I used a mic and my laptop and recorded all of the songs I've written about you, about us - and put them on a CD."

"Songs? I only know of the one you told me you named 'Smile' that you wrote when we came here last spring break."

"There are 40 songs."

Kurt was speechless. He carefully laid the iPod on the end table so he wouldn't drop it and he turned back around and wrapped his arms around Thad and held him close. "40?"

"Not all of them are happy like 'Smile'. I struggled with whether or not to include ones that were sad or angry. In the end, I decided to include them. It's our story. Happy, sad, angry, excited, in love and real. All of it happened. It's all part of us, so I included them all."

"I don't even know what to say. Thank you. I can't wait to listen to all of them." Kurt pulled back a little. Do you want to go lie out in the hammock? I have my splitter. We can both listen at the same time."

"Okay."

Kurt went upstairs and got his earbuds and Thad's too. He grabbed his splitter and came back downstairs. He picked the iPod up as he walked past the end table and stuck the splitter in. Thad was waiting for him by the back door. Kurt helped Thad into the hammock and then climbed in. He pulled the iPod out of his pocket and they both plugged their ear buds in. Kurt pressed play. He turned carefully and laid his head on Thad's chest. He held the iPod in his hand and laid his hand on Thad's chest. Thad wrapped his arm around Kurt. Kurt looked through the play list:

Yes

Path

Halo

Clearing

Science

Smile

Waves

Love

Lions

Victory

Crash

Broken

Attention

Healing

Zoo

Kick

Friends

Touch

Falling

Club

Shattered

Stay

Cookies

Reborn

Art

Freedom

King

Mouse

Possibilities

Push

MVP

Fire

Books

Chocolate

Smoke

Victorian

Twinkle

Orbs

Mia

Focus

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt said nothing through the entire playlist. He smiled, he even cried, but he listened carefully.

"That was the most incredible thing I have ever listened to. You are amazing." Kurt had tears running down his cheeks and a smile on his face. "Thank you."

Thad kissed him on the top of his head. "I love you."

"I love you too."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Kurt? Thad? Can you two come inside?" Ellen called from the back door.

"Sure, Mom."

Kurt got out of the hammock and helped Thad out. They went inside.

"You two seem to enjoy that hammock a lot."

"We fell asleep. It's just so relaxing. It's a good thing it's in the shade or I'd be a lobster face. Well, half lobster face since I fell asleep on my side."

"That would be funny and terrible all at the same time. You'd have to go take a nap lying on your other side to even it out."

"Did you two enjoy your walk?"

"We did. We passed a Redbox and rented a movie. We'll watch it and then make dinner. I don't even know if it's any good, but Thad really liked the first one."

They curled up on the couch together and Donovan and Ellen sat in the chair, much the way they had the last time they watched a movie.

" _Kung Fu Panda 2_? I guess I haven't been paying attention. I didn't even realize it was out. We did go see _Real Steel_. I liked that."

"We haven't watched that one. We'll put it on our list," Donovan said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

By the time the movie was over, it smelled really good in the house.

"I was going to ask you if you wanted help with dinner, but I can smell dinner. It smells really good," Kurt said.

"I put a casserole in the oven before I came outside and found the two of you asleep. It should be ready to get out in just a few minutes. You can set the table, if you'd like."

"Sure." Kurt opened the cabinets and grabbed everything he needed. "Thad and I need to get some jeans when we got out after Christmas shopping tomorrow. I've never been shopping here, so if you know of a few good places to get some, that would be great. My parents aren't coming here. We changed our flights and we're going to DC for the last four days of winter break. But we packed to be here where it's 80 degrees. We didn't even wear our coats to the airport. We just put on shorts and our football hoodies and went straight from the building into the town car. We figured 1-2 minutes of being freezing would outweigh having to carry our coats around."

Ellen laughed. "That makes total sense, but now the two of you are going to freeze in DC where you'll be lucky if it's 30 degrees."

"I know. I need some new jeans anyway, since I lost all my winter clothes, so it won't be a waste of money."

"The ones I have aren't comfortable with this brace on and it looks like it's going to stay on for a while. That's the other reason I flew wearing shorts. I didn't want to be uncomfortable in the plane. Kurt says I need some with some stretch in them. I can't say that I've ever paid that much attention to the material my jeans have been made out of. I just try them on and if I like how they fit and look, I buy them."

Ellen put the casserole on the table. She took the leftover pie out of the fridge and put it in the oven with the heat off to warm it back up while they ate.

Donovan came in and sat down. They all served themselves and talked about Europe. Kurt just listened and enjoyed hearing their stories. It made the whole idea of moving there permanently seem more exciting than frightening.

After they ate and cleaned up, they all took a walk together to take the movie back to the Redbox. Kurt and Thad walked in front. Kurt continued to notice little things everywhere they went. The color of a building, the wrought iron work on a window, and what seemed like a hundred other little things that just blend in to other people.

They walked past a popsicle cart on the way and Thad could tell how much Kurt really wanted to stop, but he didn't. They put the movie back in the Redbox and turned to walk back toward the condo.

Ellen spoke up. "That brace makes a big difference, doesn't it?"

"It really does. It's still annoying, but I feel so much more like myself again. I don't feel like I'm making Kurt walk at half speed anymore."

"You know that didn't bother me." Kurt stated.

"I know. But I feel better walking more normal speed. Or least being able to when I want to."

"I'm sure being stuck in slow was hard. It adds a lot of time between things that wasn't necessary before."

"It did."

"Has your arm healed, Kurt? You still wear a bandage all the time. Do you need to see someone?" Ellen asked.

"Oh, no. The skin has healed shut. I just don't want anyone to see it. I'm about 90% certain that I'm going to get a tattoo to cover over it. I just have to wait a few more months. The websites say 6 months, which will be in early April."

"I see."

"I wasn't just randomly cut. Something was written on my arm."

"Oh, I didn't know."

"I didn't tell anyone. Only Thad and Sebastian have seen it."

"I can understand not wanting whatever it is to be seen by everyone. No one really asks about random scars, but I can imagine that you'd get nosy people trying to read your arm or ask questions."

"I don't want to inspire more hate crimes either. I wouldn't want people who agree with what it says to think about inflicting a similar scar on someone else. And I don't want everyone else to look at me with pity. I'm not ashamed of who I am and I don't want pity either."

"Show her the tattoo you're thinking about getting," Thad said.

They stopped walking and Kurt pulled out his phone and showed her the photo.

"I would draw it myself, but it would look something similar to that. Some of the musical notation in that one is inaccurate and I wouldn't have it tattooed on my skin like that." Kurt laughed.

"He found this really cool guitar one. Show her that one."

Kurt pulled up the photo.

"That's really cool how the artist used the trees to create the guitar. And the musical staff is the fret board. Very creative."

They started walking again.

"I've been thinking about getting that one done on my arm where the scar is from the surgery. But it's actually healed up really well since I got the cast off and I started using the scar cream that Kurt's been using. I need to talk to the doctor about the potential of ever having to have the bar replaced before I decide to put a tattoo there. I wouldn't want to put it somewhere knowing that it will get cut into at some point. That would look much worse than the way it looks now."

"I agree. I mean no one can know if an area they tattoo would ever need operated on underneath, but to put one in a place you know you'll have to have operated on is different. When's your next appointment?"

"The end of January."

They were approaching the popsicle cart. Thad pulled Kurt toward the cart. "What kind do you want to try?"

"Umm. Watermelon? I've never even heard of watermelon popsicles, but it sounds really good."

Thad spoke up, " _Una de mango y otra de sandia, por favor._ " He pulled out his wallet and paid. He handed Kurt his and opened his own.

"Thank you." Kurt opened his and took a bite. "Oh, wow. It's just frozen watermelon. That's really good." He laughed. "It has seeds in it."

"Here, try mine."

Kurt took a bite. And offered Thad a bite of his.

"That's really sweet." Kurt said. "It's good. I want to take Spanish lessons. I took Spanish at McKinley, but I don't think the teacher could speak the language at all. I quit because it was pointless. But I want to learn."

"I don't speak it fluently, but I can get by with the basics."

"Well, you speak it way better than I do."

"I'm sure you can find someone to tutor you when we move to France. Maybe you can trade and not have to pay anyone. You teach them English and they teach you Spanish."

"Maybe. I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that we're going to move to France. We need to talk about it with Sebastian and get focused on the details of getting everything set up."

"I know five more months here and then we can leave. We can stay with my grandparents if we go to England. So, that would fun to do this summer too."

Kurt squeezed Thad's hand.

It was nearly dark by the time the got back to the condo. Donovan unlocked the door and they all went inside.

"So, how early does the after-Christmas shopping start?

"Not nearly as early as your after-Thanksgiving shopping does." Thad laughed.

"We didn't even go this year."

"I know, but you've told me stories. It's definitely light outside when we go."

"We'll leave a 8:00. We usually go out and have breakfast somewhere near where we're going and then we head out to the stores. This isn't mall shopping though. The stores are along the street. And depending on what we find, we may go to one of the outlet malls."

Thad had downloaded some of the songs to his phone and asked Kurt if it was alright to let his parents listen to them. He played some of the songs for them. He also pulled up some of the videos he had taken of Kurt playing football and let them watch that. He showed them their performance from Family Weekend.

They talked about school and France and any and everything that came to mind for a few hours. Ellen and Donovan eventually excused themselves and went up to go to bed early.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad showered quietly and got in bed. Thad plugged his phone in to charge it and started some music.

They were both lying on their backs, sides touching.

"You have the coolest parents ever. Please do not expect the few days we spend my parents to be peaceful and adult like this. How long have your parents treated you like an equal?"

"My whole life that I can remember. I was never forced to do things or made to feel like I was less of a person because I was younger. I guess going to boarding school like the rest of the kids I knew makes kids grow up faster, but I never felt like I was being denied a childhood. We all had fun. I didn't feel abandoned, which is how it seems that most Americans respond when I tell them I went to boarding school at age 11."

"I guess I'd have to see a boarding school for kids that young in order to understand. It's hard for me to see how being away from your parents wouldn't make you feel abandoned."

"Maybe when your brought up to believe that you need your parents permission to breathe, it feels like not being constantly controlled would feel like being abandoned."

"Permission to breathe? That's kind of harsh."

"You haven't heard some of the stories the guys at school have told about how they grew up. I wasn't referring to your childhood specifically."

"Oh. I guess I haven't. Last year I started to get to know some of the Warblers, after we started dating. Then this year with football practice every day and the season lasting until the end of November - I've not focused on working on getting closer to any of them. Well, besides Sebastian."

"I was there a long time before you came."

"I didn't run off your friends did I?" Kurt was concerned.

"No, no don't think that. I still talk to people. It's just been harder this year because of the wheelchair and I was busy with football too."

"Okay. I don't want to be one of those people that act like they own their boyfriend. Now that football is over, you'll have more time to spend with them if you want. I won't keep you from spending time with people. You can walk around on your own now and I don't have to hang around."

Thad turned on is side. "You aren't getting in the way. Stop thinking like that. It's not all that likely that I will see most of the people at school after graduation. You and I aren't heading off to Harvard or Columbia where a lot of them will be going. Some people are friends for a short time and that's okay. If I ever run into them anywhere, we'll still be on good terms. Other people are friends for life and they keep in contact no matter where they are."

"Okay."

"We'll make new friends in France. Some will be short term, others lifelong."

"Your perspective is nice. You're my first real friend and Sebastian is the second, so my perspective on letting friends go is vastly different from yours. I would be heartbroken to lose the two of you. I guess now that I think about it, Jeff, Nick, Richard, Trent, David - they fall into that group of friends for a season you're talking about. They are my friends, but not in the way that you and Sebastian are. I get it."

Kurt turned on his side too and kissed Thad.

Kurt pulled back. "I want to ask you something."

"Sure."

"You actually like Sebastian, right? I'm not imagining things."

"No, you're not imagining things. He and I are friends too. Real friends. Why?"

"I just wanted to make sure that you never felt like I was...I don't even know how to explain it. A lot of guys would get really jealous if their boyfriend was good friends with another guy, especially one like Sebastian who grabs me and tickles me and stuff. He catcalls me. I just want you to know that I don't think of him as anything other than a friend."

"I know. I absolutely know. He's like your comic relief. The two of you have things in common that you and I don't and that I don't have with him. And he and I have things in common that you and I don't. I like him. We're friends. I like him around you. He makes you feel safe and comfortable too. When you hold his hand, I know it's not because you're attracted to him romantically."

"Good."

"The two of you arguing is hysterical. And totally hot."

"I see. I see. You've always had a thing for me getting aggravated and putting people in their place." Kurt was laughing. "Does he know this?"

"Not a chance."

Kurt laughed harder.

"But he and I are actually friends. So, don't worry about whatever you were worrying about. I like him being around. I'm looking forward to him coming later this week."

"I wonder what he's got planned that he won't tell us."

"I don't know. He didn't tell me either."

Thad gently wrapped his hand around Kurt's neck and caressed his check with his thumb. Kurt responded by wrapping his arm around Thad's back and pulling them closer together to kiss gently, not starting anything heated. Just kissing to kiss.

Kurt asked, "Can I be the big spoon? I want to hold you."

Thad pecked him on the lips and turned over and scooted back.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After an enjoyable breakfast, the four of them headed off in search of their must-have items. Donovan was looking for a few dress shirts since the last dry cleaners lost several of his work shirts. Ellen was in search of some lower healed shoes that still looked professional. She claimed she was getting too old to put up with the higher heels. She had been wearing the Keen sandals she had gotten in Ohio last summer the whole time they'd been in Florida.

"I wonder if the company that makes the sandals you love also makes professional shoes of any sort."

"That's a good question. I'm going to look." She pulled her phone out.

They walked through the store and found the young men's department.

"We're here. Thad and I will look for jeans and try them on until we either find some we like or give up altogether. Do you want us to text you when we're done?"

"What's the fun in that? What size do you wear? We'll help search."

"Really?"

"Sure. We came to have fun and spend time together. Donovan and I aren't going to run off and go somewhere else."

"Oh. Okay."

Kurt told her their sizes and she started rounding up pairs in their sizes and Donovan played pack mule. After about 10 minutes, they had about 20 potential pairs. Kurt took them from Donovan and headed toward the dressing room. Thad walked into the larger handicapped room. Kurt started to hand him the ones in the stack that were his. Thad came back out and gently pushed Kurt into the room with him.

Kurt just looked at him like he was crazy.

"Seriously, Kurt. My parents know that we shower together. It's not like the expect us to go in separate dressing rooms."

"Alright. Let's do yours first. That way you can rest while I do mine. I know that putting on jeans is one of your least favorite things to do."

Kurt helped him try them on. Thad sat down in each pair to see how hard it would be to release the knee joint of the brace through the fabric and how much the fabric would stretch to accommodate the brace. He really didn't want to resort to buying full-cut, baggy jeans. They found some relaxed straight leg jeans that were slightly tapered that had a decent amount of give to them. Thad opted to get two of the same cut, in different washes.

Kurt decided to try something a little different and steered away from the skinny jeans. He tried the slim fit with a fuller ankle, but still slim cut. He chose a pair in an ultra dark blue wash. He bought another pair that was more like the skinny jeans he was used to wearing, just a tad bit looser than his usual type in a dark wash as well, but not as dark as the first pair.

They came out with their selections. "Are you sure you only want two pairs, Kurt?"

"I have two pairs, one blue, one black at school that I had kept over the summer. And, honestly, Thad's jeans at school fit me okay. And he's not wearing some of them at all because they're too tight over his thighs right now because of the brace. If I really need more, I'll just wear the pairs of his that he's not wearing right now."

"Alright."

"Plus, I don't want to have a lot of stuff to take with us when we fly. I'd rather wait and buy what I'll need for the climate and whatever is in style there."

"Makes sense."

"We really spend about 90% of our time wearing Dalton issued clothing. It's only when we leave the school that we change into regular clothes," Thad added.

"Let's go find some dress shirts. I looked up where we can buy some sort of dress shoes by this company. I'm going to see if I can get away with wearing them. I'm old and tired of wearing heels."

Kurt laughed. "You are not old. But I can totally understand being tired of wearing uncomfortable shoes. I say start a new trend. Wear what's comfortable and reasonable. You're negotiating contracts, not walking the catwalk."

"Amen," she said and laughed.

They went to a few stores and finally found one that had the type of shirts that Donovan liked. He bought four of the exact same shirt in different colors. Kurt found a pair of black dress pants in the same store. On their way back to the car, they kept the conversation going.

"It's easy for men," she said. "Can you imagine if I showed up in the same exact outfit, but only a different color four days in a row? But he can wear the same shirt in a different color and it's totally acceptable. Totally unfair."

"But in his defense, all of his choices look pretty much the same. He has no ability to show any individuality or personality beyond changing the color of his shirt and the pattern on his tie," Kurt said.

"But he gets to wear comfortable shoes."

"You get to wear cool accessories and completely different looking outfits each day," Kurt countered.

Thad was laughing. He walked up and wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist and pulled him close. Kurt followed along and did the same.

"He could get dressed in the dark and be fine. He can wake up and be ready to leave in 15 minutes and people would still take him seriously."

"I know. It's unfair. Women who wear no make up and dress plainly aren't professional. Women who wear too much make up and dress too outrageously are trashy. The fine line of somewhere in the middle is a pain to try to figure out. But it also stinks for guys that want to wear something besides solid muted colored button down shirts."

"Donovan just bought non-muted, non-solid shirts to wear."

"Yes, but he is a grown man that is secure in who he is. He doesn't have to fight for his masculinity anymore. He is a businessman. Plus, being a little edgy probably puts the other men in the room a little out of their comfort zone wondering what to expect from the man who is clearly in charge, but is wearing a pink shirt."

Ellen laughed. She turned into a lot and parked. They all climbed out of the car and followed her to the shoe store.

Kurt continued, "I feel bad for young straight guys with an outgoing personality who want to wear clothes to reflect that personality because unless it's a fun bright colored t-shirt, they're going to get called a lot of names for wearing fashionable clothes. Maybe that's why a lot of them don't dress up, but live in t-shirts. They can wear a bright turquoise t-shirt with some super hero on it and everything is fine, but if they put on a turquoise short-sleeved button up shirt with a pattern on it and tuck it in, suddenly they get called 'fag' and 'fairy'. It's so dumb."

"I agree. We assign all of this meaning to fabric. A piece of fabric doesn't say anything about a person's sexuality. I mean prejudice against people based on their sexual orientation is stupid, and it is stupid to assign gender or sexuality based on the type of shirt someone is wearing."

Ellen had the clerk bring out a few pairs of shoes and she tried them on. She got a pair of black Mary Janes that weren't really dressy at all because of the soles, but she didn't seem to care. "I'm wearing these and we'll see what happens. We'll see how badly I get shunned for wearing the wrong shoes." She laughed.

"Do either of you need any shoes?" Donovan asked.

They both said "no".

Ellen paid for her shoes and they all went back out to the car.

"Alright then, we need to find an art store." Donovan pulled his phone out and found one between where they were and the condo. He hopped in the driver's side and everyone else got in. He headed off to the art store he had found. They all went in together.

Kurt found the drawing supplies and picked up a pad of the type of paper he liked to use and started looking through the drawing pencils. He found a nice set of pencils in a case that would protect them from damage in a bag. He picked those up and a set of colored pencils that had more colors than he had ever seen. He decided to buy them for himself. He also looked for another pack of the good erasers he liked. He handed the drawing pencils and the pad to Ellen since it's what she said she wanted to get him and he got in line behind her to buy the other items himself.

Thad was standing just slightly behind Kurt and shook his head ever so slightly to keep his mom from trying to pay for the other items. Once they were through the line, Kurt put his purchases into the bag with Ellen's and carried it.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, sweetie."

They went back to the car.

"The pizzas should be there right after we get back," Donovan said. "I ordered while you guys were in line."

"Perfect," Ellen said. "I wish we could stay longer. Our next break we're taking in Ohio. We're supposed to finish up with a deal in New York in late February. We'll come to Ohio for a few days afterwards. You can take us to the Spaghetti Warehouse and the German candy shop. The fudge is really good."

"Sounds like fun," Thad said. "The 15-layer lasagna was really good."

"It really was," Kurt added.

After they finished eating, Kurt helped Donovan load the suitcases into the car while Thad and Ellen packed up the leftover pizza. They double-checked that they hadn't left anything behind and they hugged Kurt and Thad and headed off to the airport for their flight to England.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"So, now we have three days to ourselves before Sebastian gets here," Thad said.

"I'm going to go upstairs and get the sheets off the bed. I'll help you open the couch before I go up, so you can get the sheets off. I know it's harder for you to get up the stairs, but I like sleeping up there better."

"Alright."

After Kurt started the washer, he opened the bags with their new jeans and laid them on the pulled out bed and went to get the scissors to take the tags off. He washed them twice to get the extra dye out and dried them on the lowest setting. They remade the bed downstairs and Kurt went upstairs and remade the bed. Kurt grabbed all of their clothes from the credenza and took them upstairs and put them in the dresser drawers. They folded the bed back into the couch and put the cushions on.

"There. Now it's ready for Sebastian to sleep on. He'll have room for his clothes in the credenza." Kurt looked around the room. "The bath stool." He grabbed it and put it upstairs in the tub. And brought the hoodies down and put them on top of the credenza near the blow-up tree.

"Alright, Mr. Efficient, everything is put back in order. What's on the agenda for the rest of the afternoon and evening?"

"Well, I was thinking that I'd get the soups started while you serenade me."

"Oh, really? I can do that." Thad got his guitar out and pulled a kitchen chair to sit where he could look at Kurt while he played.

Kurt pulled out the meat he had picked out and got it all cooking. He found the largest bowl and put the beans in to soak after he had rinsed them. He put the meat for the chili away. He let the rice cook while he cut up the cooked chicken. He put all of the ingredients into the two pots and turned the heat down to let the soup simmer for a while. The chili would have to wait until the beans were ready to cook the next day.

"Between the leftover pizza and the soups, I think we'll be set for lunch and dinner until Sebastian gets here."

Thad put his guitar on the chair in the front room and came back into the kitchen and started washing the skillet.

"You know I'll help, right? You're not some 50s housewife who has to do the cooking and cleaning. I know it started out that way with us, but that was just because I couldn't help. You saw my parents. My dad cooks. He goes shopping. We're equal partners. I know there are still things I can't do, but there are a lot that I can. I don't want you to feel obligated to do everything still."

"Okay. It will take a little adjusting. And I've never felt like your 50s wife. I feel loved and valued and I do what I do because it needs done and you couldn't do it. But you're right. I need to step back and ask what you want to do and not just do it all myself. It was never my intention to make you feel inadequate or like I don't trust you to do something like make dinner."

"You haven't made me feel that way at all. We just need to learn to do things together rather than me sitting and watching you. Although, the view is quite lovely," he said as he dried his hands and wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and kissed him.

"Well, I actually enjoy cooking and listening to you play the guitar. So, for me, it doesn't seem like a chore, but you're always free to help me cook or cook by yourself if you want."

Kurt turned the heat off on the vegetable soup and turned the chicken soup down even lower. He set a timer on his phone to move the soup to the fridge.

"So, ideas?" Kurt asked. "We've done all of the things that needed done. Now, what?"

"Snuggle? Read and snuggle?"

"Snuggling sounds good. We can read after the timer goes off and I put the soup away."

They headed out back to the hammock.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Later that evening after they had spent time reading, Kurt made the banana bread. Afterwards, they ate dinner, watched a movie and then went upstairs.

Once they were upstairs, Thad remembered what it was that Kurt had wanted to do once they were alone again. Kurt shut the bedroom door and locked it.

They headed into the bathroom and had a relaxing shower. Afterwards, Kurt started some music, pulled out their battery powered candles that he had hidden in a pair of socks and put them on the bedside tables and turned the lights off. He grabbed the lotion from the bathroom as well.

By then, Thad had gotten his brace back off and was lying in the bed. Kurt got in bed with him and they took turns massaging each other and enjoying the uninterrupted ability to just touch each other and talk. Thad saw Kurt come alive in this room more than any other place they had ever been. He soaked in every minute of it knowing that until they finally left Ohio for good that these glimpses into the unafraid Kurt were limited. He fully engaged with Kurt in every way that he could. It was amazing and heartbreakingly joyful.

While he was massaging Kurt's back, he was thinking. He realized that while he felt like the downstairs was his, Kurt felt like the upstairs was theirs. It was where they stayed all of spring break the year before. It was where the two of them had grown close before their world was torn apart by a car wreck and homophobic bullies.

Thad remembered Kurt telling him about the sequel in his life had people trying to make a reappearance, but that he was older and stronger and that they wouldn't have a role. But those bullies pushed their way in anyway. Kurt had lost so much in the nearly 9 months since their first visit. Kurt had been feeling so confident then and now Thad only got to see that Kurt in Florida.

Thad moved away enough to give Kurt room to move.

"Scoot over. I want to rearrange."

"Okay."

Thad move the pillows so that he could sit up against the headboard in a reclining position. He made room for Kurt to sit between his legs and got Kurt to lean back on him.

Thad ran his hands from Kurt's shoulders down towards his hands. He kissed along his neck and shoulders and wrapped his arms under Kurt's and around his torso. He gently ran his fingers along Kurt's chest.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Mmm hmm."

They reclined like that for quite a while, talking about whatever came to mind. Eventually, they scooted down into the bed, got comfortable, and fell asleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, Kurt brought up slices of banana bread, bowls of yogurt, and fresh orange juice. After they finished, he took the dishes down and washed them. He grabbed the books they had been given for Christmas and his new drawing supplies and went right back upstairs.

Kurt handed Thad his book and he climbed in the bed and lay on his stomach and started looking through his book. Thad changed his position and lay down next to Kurt and propped up on his elbows to read. Kurt turned his head and kissed Thad's shoulder and went back to looking at his book.

A few minutes later, it was Thad that turned and kissed Kurt's shoulder. Then it became a game of who could kiss the other one's shoulder without getting caught.

It wasn't long before they were both laughing and neither one of them was reading. Kurt took their books and put them on the dresser and turned back toward the bed.

"I think that's enough reading for now. Obviously kissing is more important." He climbed onto the bed and straddled Thad who was still lying on his stomach. Kurt turned Thad's head gently so he could lay flat and pulled his arms down to his side. Kurt started at the top of his spine and kissed down his neck, his right shoulder and all the way to his hand. He kissed his way back up and across and down to his left hand and back up to his neck.

Thad knew what his next therapy goal had to be. He had to get the therapist to release him to get up on his hands and knees, even if it was just on a bed. He just had to be able to. He wanted to kiss Kurt all over like Kurt was kissing him. He decided to put that thought aside for the time being and enjoy Kurt's attention.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They spent three days talking and touching and talking more. Kurt let his walls back down completely and let Thad in.

They started cooking together rather than Kurt cooking and Thad watching. They watched a few movies. They took walks and even ventured out and took the bus into Miami one day.

Kurt spent time drawing. Thad worked on getting more of his compositions fine-tuned and written down neatly. They even started working on a list of places they wanted to visit in Paris using a tour guidebook they had bought when they were in Miami.

The time away from Ohio was exactly what they needed to become strong together again. Kurt pushed aside the lingering feeling that he was a harbinger of doom for those around him and let himself truly enjoy each day.


	16. Chapter 16

Sebastian knocked on the door late Friday morning and Kurt opened it and threw his arms around Sebastian's neck and hugged him and then pulled him inside.

"You're here!"

"I am."

"Merry Christmas! Happy almost New Year!" Kurt said cheerfully. "Make yourself at home. The couch makes a bed, which is where you'll sleep. Follow me."

Sebastian did, but looked back at Thad. Thad tilted his head and raised his eyebrows like "go along with it."

"Here's the kitchen. The bathroom's over there. The washer and dryer are in this closet." He opened the back door and stepped outside. "There's the outdoor shower for after we go to the beach. There's comfy hammock. Don't go out the gate without Thad. He has the key to lock it from the other side." Kurt walked back toward the door. "Upstairs is one bedroom and another bathroom."

"I like it. It's cozy," Sebastian said.

"Did you have a decent flight?" Thad asked.

"It was alright. Not that long."

"We're going to the beach. Get changed," Kurt said bouncing up on his toes. "Oh wait, I got you a sun shirt. I was afraid you'd burn like me. I'll get it." Kurt went in the front room and opened the credenza and got the shirt and took it back into the kitchen and gave it to Sebastian.

"Thanks." He took it and sat his backpack on the table and pulled out his swim trunks and went in the bathroom and changed. He came back out barefoot.

"Oh, we got you water shoes too so you won't cut your feet on the broken shells." Kurt grabbed them from the shoe rack and handed them to him.

He slipped them on. "Thanks. Do I need anything else?"

"The pouch," Thad said.

"Right." Kurt handed him a waterproof pouch. "Put your phone and ID in there and pin it in your pocket."

Sebastian did.

"Alright. We're ready. More than ready. We haven't been down to the beach yet. We're really excited. So, it's going to be a little weird, but it will be fun. You're going to help me carry Thad outside and down the walk out to the sand." Kurt had already taken the sled around the side of the yard and put it at the bottom of the walkway. "He can't walk without the brace and the brace can't get wet or get sand on it. But with you here, we can get him down to the water. Come on."

Sebastian and Kurt picked Thad up and carried him out to the backyard and sat him in a chair. Kurt grabbed a couple of the towels he had put outside and wrapped them around Thad's neck and unlocked the gate. He and Sebastian picked Thad up again and carried him through the gate. They stood him up on one leg while Kurt quickly locked the gate and put the key in his pouch. They picked Thad back up and walked down the wooden walkway. They got about three-quarters of the way to the sand and Sebastian laughed.

"A sled?"

"Yep. It was Kurt's idea. My mom ordered it from Amazon."

They got Thad in the sled and they pulled him down to the waterfront. They got him back out and he sat on a towel and they sat next to him.

"It's beautiful. I've never been to Florida or any tropical place."

"Come down to the water with me," Kurt said. "It's warm."

"I'll come in a minute. I just want to sit here for a minute first."

"Okay." Kurt took off down to the water.

"Sebastian, don't tease him. I mean don't tease him about being happy. You can tease him about all of the normal stuff. All his 'lotions and potions' as you call them. His never-ending planning or whatever. But don't say a single teasing thing about him being happy. This is the only place he has ever been like this. This is what he's like without bullies and homophobes breathing down his neck and trying to carve his arm up in club restrooms or lighting his prized possessions on fire. You're the only person he trusts to come here with us besides my parents. He even cancelled his own parents coming here."

"I won't. I swear. I didn't even know he could relax, much less be carefree. I promise I won't hurt him and ruin this place for him. But for right now, I'm going to go tackle him and knock him into the water like a good best friend."

Sebastian got up and took off and did exactly what he said. Kurt saw him coming, but Sebastian managed to knock him off balance and they both fell into the water laughing.

"You got my hat wet!"

"It looks like it will be just fine. And it will keep the sun off your face whether it's wet or dry. It's really beautiful here. I've seen the water along the channel between France and England, but I've never been to a real beach like this. Thank you for inviting me."

"You're welcome. I've been looking forward to you getting here. I missed you."

"It's not nearly as much fun without you around. I missed you too. Should we go get Thad and get him wet too?"

"Definitely."

They headed back up to where Thad was sitting and they leaned over and picked him up and carried him down to the water and sat him on the edge of where the waves were coming up. They sat down next to him.

"So, Mr. Plan-it, what's on our agenda after this lovely late morning, early afternoon splash in the waves?"

"Well, I figured we'd look for at least one nice shell for you to take back home with you as a souvenir."

"Okay."

"We have sandcastle building for tomorrow."

"Alright."

"Cuban food."

"Sounds tasty. You know I love all food."

"Oh, and Santa came."

"Really? That's hard to believe. I really didn't think I was anywhere near getting on the 'nice' list. Are you sure it wasn't a delivery error?"

"I caught him in the act myself and he assured me that, contrary to popular belief, you are actually a sweetheart and you just pretend otherwise. I was sure he was mistaken, but he was quite certain about it."

"If you say so." He smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"And we have whatever you've planned that you won't tell us about."

"That's how surprises work. Didn't anyone ever explain that to you?"

"Smartypants." Kurt stuck his tongue out.

"You know it," he said smugly.

Kurt rolled his eyes. Thad laughed.

"We want to talk about France too. We told Thad's parents. They're going to transfer back to England so we can see them more often."

"Cool."

"But for now, we're going to sit and watch the waves and be outside. We may need to get you a hat or some sunblock if you burn easily."

"We'll see. I've never been at a beach like this, but I don't usually burn that quickly."

They spent a couple of hours splashing around, looking for shells, and having a good time.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They were all redressed after coming back in from the beach. Thad and Sebastian were sitting in the front room. Kurt was scurrying around outside shaking out the towels and getting them in the washer so they could use them again the next day.

He came flitting into the front room. He opened the right door on the credenza and showed Sebastian the empty shelves. "You can put your clothes in here. Anything that won't fit, can go in that closet. You can put your shoes on that rack by the back door."

"Got it."

"So..." Kurt grabbed the packages off the credenza and handed them out. He sat next to Thad.

Sebastian ripped the paper off of his. "Oh, wow. It's really soft and it's my favorite color."

Kurt smiled. He and Thad unwrapped theirs.

Sebastian laughed. "Perfect. These will be better than our Dalton hoodies for my plan."

Kurt grabbed up the wrapping paper and balled it up and put it in the kitchen trash.

"Are you ready for lunch? We can go out whenever you're hungry. We're going to go to this Cuban place that's really good. Just wear walking shoes."

"Let's go then. I'm hungry. Breakfast was at about 5:00."

They put their shoes on and headed out.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

At the restaurant, Sebastian was looking around and taking in the atmosphere. "I see why you two like it here so much. It's so different from where we live now. I bet it's really hot here in the summer, though."

"It is pretty hot, but it's not bad down by the water. We just open the windows and there's almost always a breeze. I had been thinking of going straight to France when school gets out, but maybe we could all come here and stay for a week or two before we go."

"That's something to think about," Thad said.

"Mmm hmm," Sebastian agreed, continuing to eat. "The food here is really good."

"We mostly cook at the condo when we're here, but we've come to this place a few times. Thad's parents brought us here last spring break. We like it a lot."

They continued their conversation and finished up eating. Afterwards, they went for a walk around the area and then back to the condo.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When they got back, they all slipped their shoes off. Kurt turned the chair toward the couch.

"Sit there and prop your feet up on the end of the couch," Kurt said to Sebastian.

He and Thad sat on the other end of the couch with their legs stretched out on the couch cushions. Kurt sat between Thad's legs and reclined back on his chest.

Sebastian flopped down and put his feet up and started talking. "So, I have interesting news that I didn't want to talk about in public."

"Do tell," Kurt said excitedly.

"My _maman_ is getting married."

"Is that good or bad? Interesting can mean either one," Thad said.

"Well, it's not bad. It's just weird. She had been dating the guy for a while before I left. He's a nice enough guy. He's a school teacher, like my _maman_."

"Do you like him?" Kurt asked.

"He's fine. He treats her well, and she loves him. The wedding is in June after school gets out here so I can be there."

"Well, that's good, I think. Right?"

"Yeah, yeah. I want to be there for her. She's moving in with him. Into his flat."

"So, you're going back and you'll be homeless? Or you'll be moving in with them?" Kurt asked.

"No, the exact opposite. The interesting part is that that flat I've always lived in will be mine. It was part of the settlement in their divorce. My dad paid for it and then didn't have to pay alimony. The flat is mine now. My _maman_ is signing it over to me. So, you two can move in to my mom's room."

"Seriously? You'll let us live with you?"

"Why not? Her room has it's own bathroom. You can redecorate it after you move in. I'm not sure what she'll take with her, but you can buy whatever you need. You'd have to no matter where you moved anyway."

"Of course. A bed and whatever," Thad said. "My parents will get us furniture."

Kurt was crying. He wiped the tears from his face, but they kept flowing, even though he was smiling. "Really? You're not just playing some kind of joke, right?"

"Kurt, I would never tease you about something serious. Of course, I mean it. You two are my best friends and you're moving to France to go to school. Live with me, please?"

Kurt looked at Thad and Thad nodded his head.

"Thank you." Kurt practically jumped up off the couch. He practically ending up sitting in Sebastian's lap and threw his arms around his neck and hugged him. "Oh, my God, thank you." He regained some composure and stood back up. "That was one of the things that scared me the most was that we'd move and we'd end up in some scary neighborhood because we couldn't afford to live somewhere decent." Kurt went back to his spot on the couch. Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt's chest.

"You're welcome. The other thing I've decided is that I'm going to study writing. I love to write, but I never considered it a possible career option because I thought I was going to be required to study law. And for my day job, I will be a teacher like my _maman_."

"So, you're going to teach English or French or writing?" Thad asked.

"Yes. One or all of those."

"I'm glad you've figured out what you want to do," Kurt said. "I know you've been struggling with what to choose. I know you're a good research paper and essay writer, but I've never read any short stories. Do you want to write novels? Have you told your dad?"

"I did. He responded a lot more positively than I thought he would. He said that being a teacher is an honorable career choice and that being a writer is a good long-term goal. And yes, I want to write novels."

"That's really amazing compared to how you viewed him at the beginning of the year," Kurt said.

"He's changed a lot. I've changed."

"I'd like to read your stories, if you ever let people read them," Kurt said.

"Sure." He smiled, but looked a bit scared to actually let anyone read them.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Later that evening after dinner, they all pulled out books to read.

Kurt brought a chair from the kitchen into the living room and sat it next to the left end of the couch. He put the book that Ellen and Donovan had gotten him for Christmas along with the drawing supplies he had with him on it and he sat down on the couch with his left leg extended out and his right leg bent at the knee with the drawing pad propped on it working on sketch.

Thad was sitting on the other end of the couch with his left leg extended in front of him, his right leg bent propping up the book, but also up against Kurt's left leg.

Sebastian had _Inheritance_ in his hands, curled up in the chair.

"I figured you finished that ages ago," Kurt said.

"Oh, I did. I read the whole thing in like two days. But I'm starting it again. This time, I'm going to pay more attention to the details and the story telling. The first time through I was just excited to find out how the story ended."

"I've done that before - with the last couple Harry Potter books," Kurt said.

"I mostly see you read non-fiction. What was the last fiction book you read?"

" _Goliath_. It came out back in September. I had my name on the list at the library and I was first to get it when it came out. That was when I was still using the Westerville Library. I've done more reading for school than for pleasure this last semester with the addition of daily football practice to my schedule. But you're right, I have been reading more non-fiction than fiction lately."

"I have some top secret information," Thad said.

"Information about what? And why is it a secret?" Kurt asked.

"About the spring play. And it's a secret because they're not announcing it until we get back from break."

"Do tell."

"The school has chosen to do both a musical and a regular play. It's the first time they've done it. The musical is _Seussical_. The play is _Almost, Maine_. And they're going to be performed before spring break."

" _Seussical_? Odd choice," Kurt said.

"Well, it's to 'Strengthen the community bond with the school' or something like that. It will be a traveling production. Minimal props. Basic costuming. It will be performed at five local elementary schools, with a final Sunday afternoon performance at the school."

"Interesting," Sebastian said.

"The play will have a regular Thursday, Friday, two shows on Saturday production run."

"Are they going to be rehearsed at the same time? So, we can only audition for one of them?" Kurt asked.

"I'm not sure, but it seems that way."

"I've never seen _Seussical_ or _Almost, Maine_ ," Sebastian said.

"Me neither," said Kurt.

"Let's see can see if we can find schools that posted their productions on YouTube," Thad said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The three of them spent the next two days at the beach, playing games, reading, cooking together, talking, and having fun together. Sebastian still wouldn't tell them what his surprise was, but he did tell them that they need to have all of their stuff packed and ready to go at dinnertime Monday evening. So, they ate what was left of the food that could spoil and spent the part of the day on Monday doing their laundry and packing. A car service arrived for them at 6:00. Thad double-checked the downstairs and Kurt double-checked the upstairs. They wore their Florida hoodies because Sebastian said to and they piled in the back of the town car together with their suitcase and backpacks.

Three and a half hours later, they had arrived at their destination - Universal Studios Orlando. They went into the hotel that Sebastian had booked for them and got the key to their room.

"So, I know it's a little bit late, but the indoor pool is still open. Do you want to go swimming for a little while?" Sebastian asked.

"What time do we need to get up?" Kurt asked. "We still don't know exactly what you have planned."

"7:00 should work. We'll get dressed, eat breakfast, be on the shuttle by 7:45."

"Sure. We could go for an hour and then come back up and shower and go to bed."

"Get changed then and let's go."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They were on the shuttle at 7:45 and at the gates when they opened.

"First stop - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. The reviews said it's the most popular and the lines get insanely long."

They headed to their destination and got in line. Once they were in line, they could talk to each other again. The line was filled with entertainment. It was different than any other queue any of them had been in.

The wait was long, but interactive and really cool. The ride itself was amazing and all the technology working together made it feel real. Once they got off the ride, they regrouped.

"That was truly amazing," Kurt said.

"It felt so real. It was incredible." Thad said.

"I'd ride again and again, but not with lines like that." Sebastian pointed toward the line.

They looked and saw how long the line had already gotten.

"Where to next oh, fearless leader?" Kurt asked.

"Olivander's I think," Sebastian said. "We need wands."

"Why do we need wands? Not that I don't want one, but the NEED part?"

"They're interactive. You can do things with them. You'll see."

Sebastian grabbed Kurt's hand and Kurt grabbed Thad's hand. Sebastian was weaving them through the crowd, not so fast that Thad couldn't keep up though.

In the shop, Kurt got an oak wand, Thad got an ivy wand, and Sebastian got a reed wand. They put the boxes they came with in the backpack that Sebastian was wearing. They opted to just bring one and rotate who wore it throughout the day. Thad's crutch was folded in it, just in case he needed it.

They headed out to try out their new wands. They got to the storefront area in Diagon Alley and they all tried to levitate what they could see in through the window.

"It's levi-O-sa, not levio-SA," Kurt teased as he got his feather to float up right away.

"Yes, Hermione. I know," Sebastian sassed back as he struggled to get his object to levitate.

Thad paused his efforts long enough to snap a photo of the two of them competitively trying to cast spells to outdo the other.

They went in the stores. They got a butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks and split it just to try it. They stopped in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Scribbulus, the Magical Emporium, and the Quidditch Supply store.

They oogled and eyed all sorts of candy in Honeydukes. Sebastian bought a bunch of candy, some to take home to his dad, and the rest he insisted that the other two try with him. He got each of them a giant candy apple for lunch, insisting that since the main ingredient was the huge apple, that it was still healthy. Kurt got one that was covered in caramel and chopped nuts. Thad decided to go for the sinfully delicious looking chocolate covered apple with chopped nuts on it. Sebastian decided to go all in and got a chocolate covered apple with chopped nuts and chocolate chips on it.

"The apples were delicious. Let's go into Knockturn Alley," Thad said

They walked into Borgin and Burkes.

"This is a little too much creepout for me. I'll be outside," Kurt said and turned back around and went back out the door. He was back in about one minute. "It's creepy out there without you," he said as he took Thad's hand and tried to stare directly at the floor.

"We'll meet you at the entrance to Knockturn Alley," Thad said to Sebastian as he ushered Kurt out of the store and back out of Knockturn Alley. Once they were out, they stepped to the side to stay as much out of the way as possible. Thad turned Kurt toward him and wrapped his arms around him. He whispered in his ear. "I'm sorry. Please, don't feel like you're being a drag. I love you. I'm never going to let you be afraid alone."

Kurt nodded and let Thad hold him.

Once Sebastian came out, they headed out and spent most of the day playing around in the Harry Potter themed areas. They ate a late dinner at the Leaky Cauldron.

Since Thad had mentioned that the musical was going to be _Seussical_ , they headed into the Seuss inspired area for a while too. Sebastian bought a Cat in the Hat top hat insisting that the show would surely need one.

They enjoyed every minute of their time in the park and left at the very last possible moment.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, they got up early again and Sebastian had arranged for a car to take them to Morse Museum.

"What's in this museum to make it interesting enough to be chosen over every other possible destination?" Kurt asked.

"You'll see." was the only answer he got from Sebastian.

They got out and went inside.

"Oh, my God. Tiffany glass everywhere."

Sebastian laughed. Thad just nodded. Sebastian had done a good job and he knew it.

"So, let's get the audio tour," Kurt said excitedly as the stood in line to get their tickets.

Everyone listened to the descriptions and history as they walked through Laurelton Hall. The audio tour ended in the Tiffany Chapel.

"These pieces really are magnificent," Thad said.

"They're breathtaking," Kurt said.

They finished their tour in the gift shop, looking at the Tiffany inspired pieces. Thad caught Sebastian's eyes and tipped his head away from the register. Sebastian nodded and walked across the store and called for Kurt to come look at what he was looking at. Thad quickly picked out his purchase, paid for it, and pocketed it before heading over to see what the other two were looking at.

About 10 minutes later, the car service came back for them and drove them to the airport.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian's plane was scheduled to leave an hour after Kurt and Thad's.

"We'll see you on Sunday." Kurt wrapped his arms around Sebastian's neck and hugged him tight. "Thanks for everything. I had a great time. I'm glad you came to stay with us."

"I'm glad I did too." Sebastian let him go and moved to hugging Thad.

"Thanks for everything," Thad said.

"I'll see you two on Sunday. I'm glad I came. I had a great time."

They walked toward their gate. They turned back and waved.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Carole was waiting for them in the passenger pick up area. "You two are lucky that we are having an unseasonably warm spell for the next four days. It was really cold when we got here, but tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 50s. Otherwise the two of you would freeze in those hoodies. I didn't think about you not having any winter clothes with you."

The driver put Kurt and Thad's bags into the trunk. Carole got back into the backseat and they followed her. Kurt sat between Carole and Thad. They all put their seat belts on. Kurt took Thad's hand and interlaced their fingers.

"We went shopping and we each bought two pairs of jeans the day after Christmas. We both needed some anyway, but we didn't have any long pants with us at all. We wore shorts on the way down and had planed on wearing them on the way back. We'll be okay as long as we aren't planning to stay outside for a long time after dark."

"Not that I'm aware of. I know there are a lot of cool museums. I haven't been to see anything yet. Since this is our first week here, we hired a car service for the week until we can get our bearings and decide what is actually more feasible - taxis, a car service, trying to take the subway. We just don't know yet. We found a 'reasonable' tiny apartment that we leased for the next six months, with an option to renew. And by 'reasonable', I mean completely outrageously priced, but less expensive than anything else I could find that was close enough to where Burt needed to be each day."

"I'm sure everything here is outrageously priced."

"The apartment just has one small bedroom and a very tiny kitchen. Clearly the people living in these places eat out and only sleep in their tiny bedrooms. The living room is decent sized, obviously suited for entertaining guests that eat food you order in. So, the two of you will end up sleeping in the living room."

"It's fine. We sleep in the living room in Florida whenever Ellen and Donovan are there. Hopefully the couch is comfy and Dad isn't to have a cow that we sleep on it together."

"Well, I can't guarantee that, but I don't mind. It's pretty silly on his part to think one of you is going to sleep on the floor."

"It's time for him to get his head on straight if he hasn't already. We've been together 10 months. We've shared a dorm room or apartment most of that time. And whatever we do in private, we would never ever do for an audience. So, he can rest assured that nothing private will be happening on a public couch."

Carole laughed. "Sorry. You are an incredibly private person. I've never even seen you walk around without a shirt. The whole idea of you being an exhibitionist is just funny."

"Well, that's true. I'm definitely not an exhibitionist."

"Did you two have a nice Christmas?" she asked.

Kurt squeezed Thad's hand trying to encourage him to participate in the conversation.

"We did," Thad answered. "My parents were there. Kurt and I decorated with a big red and green paper chain we made and an old inflatable Christmas tree I had when I was a kid that we still in the closet. My parents aren't big spenders for Christmas, so we usually just get each other something consumable, but this year, they got each of us a book. I gave them candy from that German candy shop we went to in Columbus. Kurt got them some of their favorite candy from a place near the condo. We played board games, watched movies, talked, went for walks."

"Sounds relaxing."

"It was," Kurt said. "Sebastian came at the end of last week. His gift to us was to take us to the Harry Potter theme park at Universal Studios yesterday and we went to this amazing museum this morning."

"I bet the theme park was fun."

Thad said, "It really was. I didn't even end up using a cart. This new brace is so much easier to walk."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Kurt asked, "Did you have a nice Christmas?"

"We did. We sat down with Finn and talked to him. We're all going to go to Florida this spring break. We've not picked exactly where yet. He's allowed to ask one person to go with us, but that person has to pay for his or her own plane ticket, meals and tickets to any attractions we go to. The person can share Finn's hotel room since it costs the same whether he stays in it alone or with someone else."

"That seems reasonable."

"We'd like it if the two of you could come as well. You can stay in another room together, not with Finn and whoever comes with him. You two wouldn't have to do anything with them, but Burt and I could alternate between the two of you. That way Finn would have time to do his own thing and not be stuck with his parents the whole time."

"We'll have to see. I don't think we have spring break the same week as McKinley. But I guess it might be possible to get the school to let us skip two days to go on a family trip. So, maybe we could go Thursday through Sunday or something."

"Well, that would be better than not having you be there at all."

"I'll check McKinley's calendar and see what we can work out when we get back to school."

The town car came to a stop. Thad opened his door and got out, followed by Kurt and Carole. The driver got their bags out and Kurt grabbed them and followed Carole and Thad into the building. They took an elevator up to the 4th floor and got out.

"It feels like being in a big hotel," Kurt said.

"I agree," Carole said. "I haven't gotten used to being here. Hopefully, that will improve with time, but I'm not betting on it. This place is the opposite of homey."

She opened the door to the apartment and they all went inside. Kurt put their bags down next to the couch since that's where they'd be sleeping.

"Are you two hungry?"

"I made some sandwiches and chopped up some raw vegetables before I went to the airport."

"Which way to the bathroom?" Kurt asked. "And yes, I'm hungry."

"Me too," Thad said.

Carole pointed out the bathroom. They both headed that way. Kurt came back to the kitchen first, followed by Thad a few minutes later. They sat up to the bar in the kitchenette.

"Thanks for the shower stool, Carole," Thad said.

"You're welcome, honey. Kurt said you still couldn't bear weight on your leg without the brace, so I know that showering without a stool would be next to impossible."

"It is. This is really good egg salad."

"Oh, I'm glad you like it. Kurt always did, so I figured I'd make it."

"Thanks," Kurt said, realizing that Carole had paid attention to his likes, even in short amount of time he had spent with her.

She smiled. "So, we have tomorrow and Friday just the three of us during the day. Burt will be off on Saturday and Sunday, but I know you'll have to head to the airport by 2:00 on Sunday. So, what interests the two of you? Like I said, I haven't been anywhere. We just got here Monday evening. Yesterday was Burt's first day. Yesterday, I did some shopping and cooking. Today, I looked at some places online, made lunch, and then came for the two of you."

"What places did you look up?"

"The Museum of American History and the Museum of Natural History. They both looked really interesting."

"Why don't we just to those places tomorrow?" Kurt suggested. "If we want to see something else, all of the museums are reasonably close to each other on the Mall."

"It's supposed to be really nice and in the mid 60s on Friday. I thought about going to the zoo."

"That sounds fun. Kurt and I loved the Columbus Zoo when we went there last summer."

"Well, then it's settled. We'll relax around here for the rest of the afternoon since the two of you obviously walked a ton yesterday since you went to a theme park. And tomorrow we'll head down to the museums on the Mall and Friday we'll go to the zoo."

"What does Dad want to do on Saturday?"

"Knowing Burt, he wants to sit in front of the TV and watch sports and drink beer."

Kurt laughed. "Well, what is he willing to do that isn't that? Because that is profoundly boring."

Carole laughed. "Well, we'll ask him when he comes home this evening. I'm actually hoping that he can take us to show us his office and the room where Congress meets. I'd like to get to see where he's spending his time."

"That would be cool," Kurt said.

"It would," Thad agreed.

They finished eating and helped Carole clean up. Kurt and Thad ended up taking a short nap afterwards. When they woke up they showed Carole their pictures from the beach, the theme park, and the museum. They got their wands out of their boxes and showed those to her as well. Afterwards, they watched a movie with Carole before Burt got back.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Carole had put a roast in the oven while Kurt and Thad had been asleep. She added the vegetables in about an hour before Burt got home. Dinner was ready to eat when he walked in.

"Dad!" Kurt got up and hugged Burt as he came in the room.

"Hey, kiddo. Good to see you."

"I don't think I've seen you look so dressed up since your wedding."

"I have to wear this every day now. I guess the joke's on me after all the ribbing about you and your fancy clothes."

Kurt rolled his eyes. He suppressed his urge to mention that those clothes were all gone.

"Carole has dinner ready. Are you ready to eat?"

"Definitely, but I am not eating dressed like this. I'll be back after I change."

Kurt and Thad helped Carole set the food up buffet style on the counter since there was no table to put the food out on.

Burt came back wearing beat up jeans and a flannel shirt. "Now, I've returned to my real clothes."

"Looks good, Dad. Grab a plate."

Burt picked up a plate and filled it and walked around and sat at the counter. Carole went next, then Thad. Kurt filled his plate last and then moved most of the food to the top of the stove and wiped the counter down.

"Sit at the counter, Thad. I'm going to sit up here and face you three." Kurt sat his plate on the counter, and then slid up onto the counter to sit. He held his plate and ate.

Kurt asked Burt what he had done that day and the three of them listened to him talk and asked more questions while they ate.

When they had finished, Carole packed up the leftovers and stuck them in the freezer while Kurt and Thad washed and dried the dishes. Burt sat at the counter and continued to talk.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

That evening, Kurt deferred to Burt's choices and they all sat around watching the TV shows that Burt liked, which meant a fishing show since he didn't find a sporting event that caught his eye. They only talked during the commercials.

Kurt sat near Thad, but not really close to him. He kept up his end of the conversations, but didn't really contribute much or bring up any topics of his own. After a few shows, Burt got up and stretched and indicated that we was heading off to bed because he had an early morning to face the next day.

Kurt and Thad showered and got ready for bed as quietly as possible. They put on their Dalton hoodies to sleep in and covered up with the two blankets they were given since they didn't have any long pajamas to sleep in. They cuddled up together on the couch with Kurt as the little spoon, just in case he got knocked off during the night. He didn't want to risk Thad falling off the couch onto his leg and injuring it.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt could hear Carole and his dad talking.

"I don't like it. It's just not right for them to be sleeping like that in my house."

"What do you mean? Sleeping while fully clothed is not right? What's not right about what they're doing Burt?"

"They shouldn't be sleeping together."

"Burt, they've been roommates for ages, like 9 months. Did you think that Kurt slept on the couch while Thad slept in the bed in that apartment all summer?"

"Well, he should have, if he didn't."

"Why? What bothers you about Kurt being near a guy? I mean it can't be because being near Kurt will give people the idea that Thad's gay. Thad IS gay. Plus, they're inside this apartment. No one can see them, except us. Why do you want Kurt to never be able to relax around you? His whole demeanor changes when you're around."

"What do you mean?"

"He was fine this afternoon. Happy, cheerful, talkative. He was really interactive, like he always is with me. Then you came home, and he became really businesslike - controlled. He sat with space between him and Thad. He was clearly trying to keep you from being uncomfortable. This afternoon, they were holding hands in the car. When we watched a movie after their nap, they were practically melded into each other watching the movie. You came home and he became visibly cautious about his behavior."

"He seemed normal to me."

"Well, it wasn't normal to me. You're putting him on edge. You're pushing him away. Get it together, Burt. He's going to leave Ohio. You know that. It's already January. He has five months of school left. You know he's leaving. Even if he doesn't move to wherever he's going to college until August, you know he's leaving Ohio and either going back to Florida or out to Seattle."

"I know, I know."

"You've excluded Thad every time you possibly could. Why? Thad obviously loves Kurt. Why would you exclude him and make Kurt feel so on edge that he can't show how he feels about the person he loves? Do you dislike Thad?"

"No, I don't really know him and to be honest, I guess I don't want to. I'm not ready for him to be an adult."

"Now, we're getting somewhere. Get over it. You're being ridiculous. You not wanting to get to know Thad and alienating Kurt will not make him 12 again. It will just make you miss out on the next five months with Kurt and it will leave you with little to no contact with him after he leaves Ohio. If you treat Thad like he's irrelevant and Kurt like he's 12 for one more day, you will regret it."

"Knowing that I can't stop time doesn't make me feel any different."

"No one loves Kurt more than Thad. Thad ended up back in a wheel chair with a pin in his arm because he was with Kurt in Lima that day. And he's NEVER once blamed Kurt. He didn't walk away. He could have broken up with Kurt. They share a room that had a brick thrown into it. He didn't leave Kurt then or blame him. Someone set Kurt's truck on fire. Thad is still with him. That is love, Burt. Those two have been through more than a lot of married adults who got divorced have, yet Thad stays. What do you think love looks like Burt? It looks like those two young men cuddled up together on a couch, sleeping in our living room."

Burt just sat there.

"What do you think Kurt has to offer Thad? Social status? Money? Prestige? Power? Sex? His parents have a LOT more money than we do. You just started this job. There's no way that Thad was looking for a way up the social ladder when they started dating last spring. You were a mechanic then, not a congressman. Thad's already at the top of the social ladder. If he were looking for easy sex, he could have gotten that I'm sure. They go to an all-boys school. I'm certain that the two of them and Sebastian are not the only three gay students there. And we all know that men looking for sex can find it, even if they have to pay for it. And Kurt's told you in no uncertain terms that the two of them weren't having sex. So, clearly that's not it anyway."

"I know."

"Don't you want Kurt to have someone who loves him?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, that someone's name is Thad and he is sleeping on our couch, holding your son like he's he most valuable thing in the universe and you're being a jackass. You go out there quietly and look at the two of them without your 'my 18 year old adult son is a 12 year old child' goggles on and tell me what you actually see. I mean it. Go look, but don't wake them up."

Kurt closed his eyes and held still. Burt opened the door to the bedroom and stepped out in the living room and looked at the two of them on the couch. Thad was lying with his back against the cushions. His right arm was extended underneath the pillow that they both were using. Kurt's back was up against Thad's chest. Thad had his left arm underneath Kurt's left arm and they were holding hands with their fingers still slightly interlaced. Kurt's right arm was bent at the elbow and it looked like Thad was holding Kurt's hand under the edge of the pillow, but the pillowcase was hanging down a bit and he couldn't be completely certain. Their lower half was covered with a blanket, but it looked like their feet were intertwined as well. He spent a couple of minutes looking at them and then went back into the bedroom and shut the door.

"What did you see?"

"They're just lying there, sleeping."

"Really? That's it. Sleeping? Does it look like it would look if we forced Finn to sleep on the couch with Kurt? Are they laying on their backs on opposite ends of the couch, trying to pretend like they have enough room to get comfortable and sleep?"

"No, it's like you said. Thad is holding Kurt. He has his arm wrapped around Kurt's torso, holding Kurt's hand, and his other arm is under the pillow holding Kurt's other hand."

"What is scandalous about that?"

"Nothing."

"Exactly. There is exactly nothing scandalous about their relationship. They are both 18. They are in love and they love each other, not just hormone-induced, sex-on-the-teenage-brain love - real, honest, respectful adult love. The gentleness between the two of them is a beautiful thing, but you're never going to see if it you don't knock it off. I expect you to walk into this house tomorrow evening with a changed heart. I don't care if you have to ignore everything that is on your agenda for tomorrow to figure yourself out during the day. I'm pretty sure no bills are being voted on this early in the session. Your son, our son, is here for 4 days, well 3 and half. Use them wisely. It will be no one's fault but your own if he moves away and doesn't keep in contact with you. He loves you dearly, but you are being a jackass."

"You said that already."

"Would you prefer 'stubborn old mule'?"

"I get it. Tell him they can be themselves and I will be different tomorrow, I promise. I don't want him to feel like he can't be himself around me. He's kept himself closed off from me to protect me, when I should have been protecting him. He kept me in the dark, but I finally got why this fall. If he had told me, I would have tried to stop it and it would have just gotten worse for him. I can't try to protect him now. It's too late. It's just so wrong and it kills me to know that his childhood and teen years were so bad. I can't get those years back for him. And he deserves to feel at home in my home, and it seems that this will be the home he visits me in since he's never going back to Lima."

"Alright. I will tell him to be himself. Don't blow this. You're going to need to make the effort. You're the one that broke his heart by the way you've behaved about Thad."

"I will do my best, I promise."

"He still wants you to be proud of him. Your opinion still matters. He's a good kid. A really good person. He works hard. He asks for practically nothing. You need to think long and hard about what he might have done if he didn't have Thad."

"What do you mean?"

"When so many people tell you that the world would be a better place without you, how many times do you have to hear it before you believe it? Thad proves those people are wrong. The very fact that Kurt means so much to Thad gives Kurt the courage to face another day."

"You've won me over."

"Good. Make it right. I'm 100% certain that young man out there is our future son-in-law."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, Kurt and Thad woke up when Burt left for work. Carole came out and started cooking breakfast. Kurt picked up their bags.

"Is it okay if we get dressed in your bedroom?"

"Oh, sure, honey."

"Thanks."

Thad slipped the brace on and followed Kurt into the bedroom. Kurt helped Thad get his jeans on. They both put on t-shirts and their Florida hoodies. They went back into the living room and took turns in the bathroom getting ready for the day. Kurt went first. When he came back out, he went into the kitchen and offered to help Carole finish breakfast.

"Honey, just have a seat. Relax."

"Thank you," Kurt said as he sat at the bar.

"For what, honey? Breakfast isn't even quite done."

"For what you said to Dad last night, for standing up for me. Practically no one has ever done that. It means a lot to me."

"You weren't asleep."

"No. Too many things were going through my mind. I was lying there with my eyes closed, just trying to relax. Thad was asleep though."

"Well, you're welcome. That wasn't really a conversation I wanted you to hear."

"I already knew how Dad felt. He wants me to have something I'm never going to have. He can't freeze time. That period has come and nearly gone, for better or worse. I'm honestly glad it's nearly come to an end. I'm ready to leave Ohio for good."

"I know, sweetie. I'm assuming that you've already sent in college applications. When we will you start to get responses?"

"April, usually."

"That seems like such a long time to wait, but I know they have to see that you're actually in a position to graduate in May."

Carole plated their food and put the plates on the bar. She walked around and sat down next to Kurt and started to eat. Thad came out of the bathroom and sat on Kurt's other side.

"Thanks, Carole," he said as he sat down.

"You're welcome, honey."

Kurt asked, "When are we leaving?"

"The car service will be here at 9:15 to take us to the museums. They don't open until 10:00."

"Alright. Maybe we should pack lunches once we finish breakfast?"

"I normally would say that's a good idea, but I don't have ice packs or much of anything we could take with us."

"Okay. We'll just eat at one of the museums or at a food cart, if they have them on the Mall," Kurt said.

"Are you two looking forward to school starting again?"

"Well," Thad said, "I'm looking forward to Regionals. We also have to decide whether we're going to attempt to participate in the a cappella competition this spring. Last year we were offered a wild card spot by someone who saw us perform at Regionals, but we could enter and compete the regular way this spring."

"We're also starting dance lessons." Kurt said. "We've found a dance instructor that will come to the school and teach two afternoons a week after rehearsal. The younger Warblers need some dance training. We'll do a lot better at competitions if we can get them dancing better."

"Finn always struggles with the dancing. I know he gets really frustrated sometimes," Carole said.

They focused on eating for a few minutes, finishing up pretty quickly. Kurt got up and went back to the kitchen side of the bar and picked up everyone's plates and started to wash them.

"How's he doing? You said he was talking about quitting Glee."

"He despises Blaine. Puck doesn't like him either. They sit around bad-mouthing him more than I would care to hear."

"Blaine's very focused on him being the focus," Kurt said.

"He's definitely a showman and wants to be in the limelight," Thad added. "It was good for the Warblers because he's really charismatic and made a good lead for a group like ours. I'm not sure that he's nearly as good of a fit for a group like New Directions."

"Especially when paired with Rachel," Kurt added. "I'm sure that Finn's assessment of New Directions being the 'Blainchel' show is pretty accurate. The thing is that it's unlikely that it's different from when it was the Finchel show. He and Rachel were almost always the leads. She's relentless and whoever she pairs herself with will be pushed the to forefront with her. It's just that, now, Finn is being pushed to the background and he's noticing."

"Well, he's definitely noticing."

"I'm sure he's miserable. It's hard to go from top dog to background singer. He's used to being top dog period. He was miserable when Sam was quarterback last year before Sam got hurt. He wasn't willing to give up his top dog spot to defend me, not that I wanted him to. Now that football season is over, he's not got much left to do but Glee. I guess he just has to figure out whether he's a team player or whether he was only in it for the accolades."

"You sound like he's being immature."

"He is. He's grown up about a lot of things since this summer, but quitting Glee because he's not the lead anymore is lame. I was never lead. Tina was never lead. Brittany, Mike, other people were never lead. They've all stayed and sung more than their fair shares of 'oohs' and 'ah'. If he never sings lead again before he graduates, he will still have sung the lead more than anyone in the group except Rachel."

"That's a reasonable point, but I'm not sure he wants to hear reasonable answers."

"Probably not. Did he apply to any colleges?"

"OSU and Lima Community, but I don't think he has the grades to get into OSU. He was really hoping that he'd get scouted this past fall."

"I feel bad about that. It's a huge struggle for me everyday not to constantly think about the far-reaching consequences of my choices."

"Kurt," Thad interrupted, "you know that it's not your fault." He got up off the stool and walked into the kitchen as quickly as he could and wrapped his arms around Kurt from the back since Kurt was washing the skillets.

"I know. But, it was a like a domino cascade. I didn't start the cascade. I was just the lead domino."

Thad moved to the side and pulled Kurt's hands up under the running water to rinse them and shut the water off. He grabbed the towel and dried Kurt's hands. He put the towel on the counter and wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck. He nuzzled in close and spoke quietly, but Carole could still barely hear him.

"Kurt, love, don't let your mind go there. Focus."

Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad's waist.

"I love you. Sebastian loves you. Your parents love you. My parents love you. You have friends. Lots of people care about you."

Kurt nodded and let Thad hold him.

Thad lifted his head from where he had nuzzled into Kurt's neck and moved so that he was face to face with Kurt. He saw that Kurt had tears running down his cheeks. He unwrapped his arms from Kurt's neck and used his thumbs to gently wipe the tears from Kurt's face. He leaned up and kissed Kurt gently and wrapped his arms back around Kurt's neck and kissed him again.

Kurt put his head on Thad's shoulder and they stood that way for a minute or two. Kurt stepped back and went back to finishing the dishes.

Thad picked up the towel and started drying the pieces that Kurt had washed. He neatly stacked them to the side, not knowing where to put them. He looked toward Carole. She shook her head slightly, indicating to just leave them stacked and she would put them away.

She started to talk again as she moved to the living room and sat in a chair. "Finn had been told many, many times to focus on his schoolwork and do the best he could. He chose not to. He chose to do what it took to get by, which wasn't much at McKinley given his quarterback status. The teachers really didn't do anything to encourage him to work harder. They mostly just gave him C's and let him slide through knowing that if he got lower grades, he'd go on academic probation and wouldn't be allowed to play football. They did the same thing with the other football players."

Kurt and Thad followed her and sat down on the couch. Thad sat down first and released the knee joint on his brace. Once he was sitting comfortably, Kurt sat next to him and leaned into him. Thad moved his arm to the other side of Kurt's. He took Kurt's hand and interlaced their fingers.

"That's not helpful," Thad said.

"No, it's not," Carole responded. "Finn can start out at Lima Community. It's a good place for him to start. He needs to get his academic act together. He's not ready for a large university setting where it's survival of the fittest. He needs the small classroom setting with instructors who don't have 500 other students to deal with. He has absolutely no idea what he wants to study. After a year of getting himself academically ready for a larger college setting, maybe he'll have some idea what he wants to study. Or maybe he'll realize that he'd rather learn how to fix cars and work at the shop."

"Maybe," Kurt said. "Being a mechanic can pay as well as careers that require college degrees. A Master Mechanic makes more than high school teachers with Master's degrees."

Thad commented, "It sounds like he needs to take some learning styles assessments and some aptitude tests to see what he might actually be interested in and be good at."

"That's a good idea. I should see if Lima Community offers something like that. They ought to be doing that in high school junior year."

"McKinley offers nothing in the way of college or career planning. It's criminal I think. Everyone is forced to attend high school for four years and then the school provides exactly zero guidance on what do to when the four years are up," Kurt said.

"That's true. Playing in football games and singing in choir competitions are things that end in high school for probably 95% of people. Honestly, some people would be better off spending their entire senior year learning to be expert clothing folders and expert cash register operators than the would learning pre-calculus and chemistry. And I don't mean that to sound uppity. It's just that I think a lot of what is considered to be a 'requirement' like three of four years of math just turns out to be a waste of time. No one our age knows how to get a mortgage or a car loan. What's more important? A car loan or knowing how to find the sine of a triangle?"

"I know, honey. I've been an adult for a long time and I haven't done any equations involving two or more variables since the last math exam I took 20 years ago. But being able to compare loan rates would have been a better use of my time. Is the 3% interest loan for 5 years better or the 5% loan for 3 years better?" she laughed.

Kurt answer, "Neither, if you can help it. Loans are always expensive. It's better to start saving young."

Carole laughed. "Of course, of course. But I definitely think that investing and borrowing should be taught before complicated calculations involving triangles that no one ever encounters in real life."

Kurt stood up and brought Thad's shoes to him. He grabbed his own and slipped his feet in and went to sit back down next to Thad to tie them.

Carole looked at the time. "You're right. We need to head downstairs." Carole went and grabbed her purse.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Kurt said. "Can you just put your important things like your driver's license and stuff in something and not carry a big bag? DC's a high crime area. I'd rather you not get your bag stolen."

"I hadn't really thought about it. I need to get one of those travel pouches or something if I'm going to go out and about when Burt's working." She pulled a few things out and stuck them in a small coin purse that was large enough to hold them and stuck it in the front pocket of her jeans.

"If I were going to spend a lot of time here, I'd get something not easily pick-pocketed," Kurt said.

"I'll definitely look into it. Let's head downstairs."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"What did you like the most?" Carole asked as they were riding back to the apartment?

"I can't really say what I liked the most. There were so many really interesting things. I like that house exhibit that showed how people's lives have changed through the furnishings in the house. And I liked the exhibit about electricity a lot," Thad said. "I think the hardest part for me was seeing war related items. It's just hard to come to terms with so much destruction being part of who we are."

"I didn't care for the war stuff either for the same reason. It's like this endless progression of better ways to kill more people at once. But I loved the first ladies dresses exhibit. It was sort of like the house exhibit to me. Seeing how views and lives changed based on the clothing that was worn."

"I bet Burt would like that whole transportation exhibit," Carole said.

"You're right. He would."

"Well, the who thing was actually really cool, but we didn't even make it to the Museum of Natural History," Kurt said as they got out of the town car and headed back up to the apartment.

"Maybe we should revise our plan," Carole said. "We could move the zoo to Saturday and go with Burt. What's not to like about animals? The three of us could go to the museum tomorrow."

"That's fine with me," Kurt said. "You'll have to ask Dad though."

They talked about more things they had seen during the day on the way back to the apartment.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Carole had bought the ingredients to make turkey chili and had browned the meat the day before. She quickly assembled the ingredients and turned the pot on to simmer until Burt got home.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Thad asked Carole.

"Sure, honey."

"I just wondered if you could go in your room long enough for me to take this brace off and put my pants back on. I'd really like to sit on the couch with it off. Sitting with it off is so much more comfortable."

"Oh, sure. No problem. Just have Kurt knock on the bedroom door when I can come back out." Carole went in the bedroom.

Thad headed to the bathroom really quickly realizing that they'd have to reverse the whole process if he needed to go any time soon. His relationship with the brace was definitely a love-hate relationship. He loved the freedom it gave him, but he hated having to fool with it.

When he came back out, Kurt helped him get his pants off, the brace off, and his pants back on as quickly as possible. Thad sat on the left end of the couch and put his left leg up against the couch back. Kurt put their shoes near the front door again. He propped the brace against the end of the couch, out of the way.

Kurt knocked. "You can come out now."

"Thanks, Carole," Thad said when she came out.

"You're welcome. I didn't even think about how much of a pain that is."

"Well, this one is so much better than the original one. I can walk so much more easily. I really like it. I just want to relax with it off."

Carole went back to the kitchen to check on the chili and get things out for dinner.

Thad put his right foot on the floor and patted the space in front of him on the couch. Kurt sat down in the space and put both of his legs out in front of him and lay back on Thad's chest. Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt and interlocked their hands. He kissed Kurt on the temple and closed his eyes and relaxed.

The next thing Kurt felt was Thad rubbing his arm gently. "Kurt, your dad's back and dinner's done."

"Oh," Kurt blinked a few times. "I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. Sorry." He started to move, but Thad held him back.

"No need to be sorry. I'm glad you got to rest a little." He kissed the top of Kurt's head before he let him go.

Kurt moved to sit up and turned, putting his feet on the floor. He leaned to his right and kissed Thad. "Thank you. Just stay here and I'll get our food and bring it over here."

Kurt got up and grabbed Thad's bowl of chili and a spoon and walked it over to the couch.

Thad was looking at the coffee table, examining it. "I'm pretty sure this is one of those coffee tables that pops up so you can eat on it. Here, hand me the bowl and press that button."

Kurt handed him the bowl and looked along the edge for the release. He pressed it and the tabletop popped up and Kurt pushed it back until it latched. He went back to the kitchen and grabbed a potholder and put it on the table. He took the bowl back from Thad and sat it on the potholder. Thad turned and put his left foot on the floor and scooted forward a bit.

"I'll go get mine too." He came back and sat down with a potholder and put his bowl on the table too.

Burt came in the room holding his bowl. "Hey, that's cool. I didn't know the table could do that."

"It makes eating in here easier, for sure," Thad said.

"I'll just sit in the chair and do my best," Burt said.

Carole sat down next to Kurt. The three of them talked about what they had seen at the museum and Burt listened.

Kurt showed him pictures from the transportation exhibit.

"Those are some nice cars. I'll have to go check those out sometime."

"I knew you'd like that exhibit."

"Would you be willing to go with us to the zoo on Saturday?" Carole asked.

"Sure, I guess. Animals are nice. I've never seen a panda before, so that should be interesting to see."

It didn't take long for them to finish their bowls of chili. Carole got up and took everyone's bowls to the kitchen. Kurt tried to follow her and she shook her head. He sat back down. He pressed the hinge release and lowered the coffee table top back to its normal height.

Kurt asked Burt about his day and what he had done. Burt talked about people he had met, and mostly about how much he had to learn still. Burt knew his reckoning had come, but he was dreading the real conversation that they needed to have. He kept talking for a while, but it was mostly just stalling. He eventually took a deep breath and began to talk about the issues that needed to be worked through.


	17. Chapter 17

"So, I, uh, did a lot of thinking today," Burt said, then stopped for several minutes.

"I've made a lot of mistakes over the last nearly year, probably longer, but I was thinking about this past year specifically. Starting with how upset I got when you let a drunk boy sleep in your bed. I was way out of line. You may very well have saved someone's life that night and I got upset about you making the best decision you knew to make, which was to keep a potential drunk driver off the road and keep him from dying in his sleep. It shouldn't have mattered whether your friend was male or female or gay or straight. You did what was right. People do what they can to protect their friends, even when their friends do something stupid like drink themselves into a stupor. I'm sorry about that."

"Thanks, Dad."

"I was out of line when I let Finn's gossip cloud my perception of you, specifically when he told me you had a boyfriend before you told me. I understand that you didn't want to tell me something like that on the phone and that you had tried to come to Friday dinner with Thad, but I was too busy listening to Finn's reasons that you'd be safe at McKinley because I wanted you to come back home. I missed you and I wanted you home. So, I let myself be persuaded that Finn was right, that you'd be okay if you came back and you put your quills out and dug your heels in. Rather than listen to you, I pushed you away. You came a couple of days later, guns blasting telling me in no uncertain terms that you would not be returning. I was hurt. I still didn't listen to what you were actually saying. All I heard was the sassing 'You can't tell me what to do.' that parents expect from teenagers, except you had never been that kind of teenager and I should have realized that you weren't rebelling."

Kurt nodded. "No, I wasn't. I was enjoying my freedom from harassment."

"Again, I'm sorry. I should have listened, not assumed. And that holds true for what happened after Thad's accident. I didn't listen again. You said you wanted to care for him because you loved him. All I heard was 'This is my fault, I have to live up to my responsibility.'"

"You blame yourself for my mother dying. I know you do. And it's not your fault. In no way was it your fault. You didn't get behind the wheel of a truck and drive while drunk out of your mind. There is no scenario in which you were responsible for what that man did."

"You don't understand."

Kurt stood up. "DON'T. EVEN. GO. THERE."

"Woah, Kurt," Burt said.

"NO. You do not get to say that I don't understand. If that's what you believe, then you still haven't been paying attention at all. I struggle every single day. I get up and face every day knowing that just because Thad and Sebastian were WITH me that day - that they were hurt. Bricks were thrown through my friends' windows because they live on the same floor that I do. Sebastian has lost his freedom because his dad took his car so that no one could set it on fire to hurt him in order to hurt me. I UNDERSTAND. But unlike you, I could make it stop. I could leave. I could kill myself. I could vanish. If I were gone, people would leave the person I love and my best friend alone. I wake up every day knowing that I could end this by ending me. Every day I choose to live, I choose to risk other people getting hurt."

Kurt sat back down. He took a few deep breaths and attempted to calm down.

"Do you know why I'm still here?" He paused. "I'm still here because every day Thad tells me that he'd rather have me with him than to live his life without me. He knows the risk. Every time he steps outside the school with me, he takes a risk. I understand that you feel bad that you let Cassius pick you up in the wrecker and go on that run and that you weren't the one to drive us home that night. I know you loved my mother. I know you miss her still. No offense to Carole. I know she understands. I'm sure she still misses Christopher."

Carole nodded.

"Never say that I don't understand what guilt feels like."

"You're right, Kurt. I'm sorry. I didn't think. And you're right. I didn't drive the truck that hit you and your mother. It wasn't my fault."

"I have five more months of Ohio to endure. You have no idea how many times I have considered moving to Seattle and living with Thad's parents and trying to find a decent school there to go to or how many times I've wondered if I could live in the condo in Florida and finish high school online. I'm a liability to everyone I care about."

No one said anything for a while.

Kurt spoke. "You want to see me as a child. You want to give me the childhood I deserve. You want me to have the carefree teen years that you had. I'm not sure where that could have happened, but I'm pretty sure it isn't anywhere in Ohio. You can't go back in time. Even if you could, nothing might change. A different drunk driver might hit us in the middle of the day. I might have been bullied by a different set of kids. There's no do-over. There's no choose a different direction at the fork in the road. You can choose to accept that I am adult and that, fair or not, my childhood is over. I'm faced with adult soul-crushing choices every day. You refusing to spend time with the person who loves me enough to keep me from vanishing is only making my life harder. Why don't you like Thad?"

"I thought about that a lot today too. And it's not a good answer. It's actually really ridiculous. Jealousy. You chose him over me."

"I did NOT. I couldn't choose both. You weren't willing to sell the shop or relocate it to Westerville. Carole and Finn don't want to move to Westerville. I couldn't choose you because you were in Lima. If you had lived somewhere else where the two of us could have been safe last summer, I would have moved both of us in with you. Plus, you live in a house with three levels. Thad was in a wheelchair. I needed to live in a ground floor location so I could get him to therapy. You didn't NEED me. You have Carole. You have Finn. You have your buddies from the shop. You could do everything you normally do. I'm not saying you didn't WANT me there. But you didn't NEED me there. Me choosing him over you would have been if I decided to go to Florida with Thad for the summer when YOU were in a wheelchair and needed care and had no one to take care of you. You're right that your answer is ridiculous."

"Okay, look. I'm just gonna lay it on the line here. I've messed up plenty in the last year. But I never did any of it to intentionally hurt you. You know that, right?"

"Yes."

"I'm really sorry for all of the additional stress I put on your life. It's the exact opposite of what I wanted. I wanted you to have fun and enjoy being young. Obviously, that's going to have to be put on hold until you live far enough away from Lima that people aren't going to still be bothering you."

"You realize that I might have to go to the moon for it to be far enough away? Azimio and his lot will be out of jail in, what, 20 months? Who's to say how much revenge is worth to them? The cost of a plane ticket to where I am? Or will they have learned something about personal responsibility during their two-year incarceration? All I can do is hope. In a couple of years, we'll find out if wherever I am is far enough away to outweigh the cost of revenge. And I'm sure the guys who broke the windows will be out long before two years from now. They'll probably be out by the end of the school year. So, three people who hate me will probably be out in six months and the other four in less than two years. I have no idea how long the guy who hit the security guard will be in jail. But this isn't just going to go away."

"I know."

Thad had repositioned himself on the couch similar to how he was before they ate. He pulled on Kurt's sleeve gently trying to get him to scoot closer. Kurt ignored him.

"Kurt," Thad said quietly and pulled on his hoodie sleeve again and moved his right leg behind Kurt.

Kurt scooted down. Thad was angled slightly differently, but still had one leg against the back of the couch. Kurt left his feet forward, but was still able to lean back against Thad's chest. Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt, who visibly relaxed just from Thad's simple touch.

At that very moment, Burt actually had the wake-up call he had obviously needed. It was like watching one of those water clocks Kurt had shown him a video of when he was younger. The tension just drained right out of Kurt almost instantaneously when he came into contact with Thad. He saw what Carole had seen before - Thad was Kurt's lifeline. Thad was proof that love outside a parental love existed and that Kurt was worthy of it.

Thad suddenly became Burt's new favorite non-family member, well, soon-to-be family member, if Carole was right. And it seemed that she was right most of the time.

"Kurt, I'm sorry. Really sorry. I was wrong about a lot of things. Mostly about not trusting you. I'm changing that. I will listen from now on. Even when you say things I don't want to hear, I promise I will listen to what you are actually telling me."

"You mean it?" Kurt asked hopefully.

"Yes. Absolutely. I'm going to do my levelheaded best to get it through my thick skull that you have grown up. You are my adult son. I want to be a part of your life. I don't want to be one of the ones that gets left behind when you move on. I know that you're going to go with Thad somewhere."

"Okay, Dad. I accept your offer and your apology."

Burt spoke again. "Thad, I'm really sorry. I tried to ice you out and keep you at arm's length to try to keep Kurt for myself. It's clear to me that you love him. And that's what a parent wants for their child - to know that their child won't be alone. I am glad that Kurt has you in his corner."

"I accept your apology, Mr. Hummel."

"Please call me Burt."

"I'll try," Thad said.

"I know I've not come across as friendly or welcoming and that was wrong of me. I'm changing all of that. I'm glad that you and Kurt have found each other."

"Thanks," Thad said. "I am too. He's the most amazing person." Thad squeezed him a little and kissed the side of his neck.

Kurt scooted into the kiss and smiled.

"So, I'm done being a screw up. I'm going to listen to my adult son who has chosen a worthy partner, who means the world to him. Anything I should add to that?"

"Not really," Kurt said. "I love you, Dad. I always have. I think we've had enough recrimination and unhappiness for one evening. Let's watch something fun."

"Fun like baseball?"

"Fat chance," Kurt snorted. "We watched your shows last night."

"So, fun like a musical?" Burt asked, not convinced there was such a thing.

"Exactly, but I'll pick one with grit. How's that? Nothing like _The Sound of Music_." Kurt looked around the room. Carole pointed to the end table behind him. He picked up the remote and chose _Chicago_.

"Trade us spots, Dad. Thad and I can both fit in the oversized chair and you and Carole can have the couch while we watch."

Thad slid to the other end of the couch and stood on his right leg. Kurt helped him hop the two hops it took to get in front of the chair. He sat down and got comfortable. Kurt sat down next. Kurt reached down along the side of the chair. "Ooh, it's a recliner. I'm going to tip it back."

Thad and Kurt wriggled around in the chair a bit until they got themselves all intertwined comfortably. Burt and Carole sat together on the couch and put their feet up on the coffee table.

When the movie ended, Burt said, "Well, you're right that it was nothing like _The Sound of Music._ I've got to get to bed. I'll see you two when I get home tomorrow. Enjoy your day with Carole, whatever it is that you've got planned."

"Night, Dad."

"Goodnight, Mr. Hum... I mean goodnight, Burt."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Carole left the room with Burt, remembering that Thad would have to put his brace back on before he could get up and move around. Kurt gently tapped on the door, letting her know that she could come back out. Kurt and Thad laid out their clothes to put on when they got out of the shower while Burt and Carole used the bathroom. Once they were done for the evening and headed into their room to stay, Kurt and Thad headed into the bathroom.

They were as quiet as mice and spent more time making out in the shower than they did showering. They finished up before the water turned cold and turned it off and got out. Sleeping in clothes and being around his parents 24/7 since they had no space of their own in the tiny apartment was making Kurt feel touch starved. At least in the condo, Ellen and Donovan were in a room upstairs with their own bathroom.

He took advantage of Thad being in his underwear and brace in the bathroom by running his hands all over him gently.

He got up close behind him and whispered very quietly, "I want to give you a massage Sunday after we get back."

Thad nodded and smiled. He turned and kissed Kurt. He leaned into Kurt, "I want to give you one too."

Kurt smiled and nodded. He wrapped his arms around Thad and pulled him closer. "And no pajamas when we get back. I've decided that I hate sleeping with clothes on."

Thad laughed quietly. "Me too."

"Let's get all this stuff on and go try to sleep."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The rest of their trip was noticeably less tense. Kurt and Thad were completely comfortable around Carole. Burt stopped himself and remembered the moment he saw Kurt's tension melt away every time he thought about being annoyed by Kurt being practically attached at the hip to Thad. Thad was keeping Kurt there. Burt could get used to their physicality. Around the apartment, it was never anything more than hand touches, light kisses, and one of them hanging on the other one like hugging while facing the same direction. But every time Thad was within reach of him, Kurt genuinely smiled and clearly felt happy just to be near him. And it wasn't just one way. Thad obviously enjoyed Kurt presence.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They had spent a couple of hours together Friday morning, but eventually Burt had to head off to work and they all rode together in the town car, letting Burt out first, and then heading on to the National Museum of Natural History.

They went inside and Kurt had already decided where they were heading first - straight to the butterfly exhibit. They by-passed everything else and went straight to the elevator and up to the second floor.

They picked up the photo guide and started to look for the different types of butterflies that were flying around. The area was sort of like the greenhouse at the school, but specially designed for the butterflies that lived there. The three of them managed to spot about half of the different ones in the exhibit while they were in there.

They left the area and looked around the insect zoo for a little bit.

"These are really cool, but it is really kind of creepy that they're everywhere but we just don't see them most of the time," Thad said.

Kurt shivered a bit thinking about it.

Carole agreed with him. "It is creepy, but they are still really cool."

They left the insect zoo and went to look through the geology, gems, and minerals area. The whole area was full of amazing rocks and stones, with the capstone being the Hope diamond.

They looked through the glass at all of the different pieces along the walls first.

"There are gems in every color and variation of color. They're gorgeous," Kurt said.

"It's really unfair that only girls get to wear things made from such amazing stones," Thad said.

"I can get away with my brooches, but not much else. I'm already 'out there' with the way I like to dress. Add colored stone or mineral necklaces and I'll be considered a full-blown crossdresser, which I find absolutely ridiculous. Who came up with the rule that men can't wear skirts anyway? They're much more comfortable than pants. I mean, think how much easier it would be for Thad to get dressed, and other things, if he could just wear a skirt instead of pants."

Thad added, "Plus, like half the male population wears some form of dress or tunic as their everyday clothing, but if I wore a skirt, that would not be acceptable."

"I've done it. I wore them to school before. I always wore leggings underneath, but I would totally wear them if it didn't mean getting the crap kicked out of me for doing it."

"Well, I agree that dresses or skirts can be more comfortable, but they're oftentimes less practical. The worst part about dresses or skirts is when I have to wear hose and heals in order for my outfit to be appropriate."

"Ugh. And I can imagine that wearing hose is a misery made only marginally better by shaving. I remember that scene in _What Women Want_. 'Shave it off, only to cover it up.'" Kurt laughed.

"Yeah, you laugh. But you're right. Hose are a torturous item of clothing. Now, skirts with no-show socks and sneakers or comfortable sandals and you've got me. The hose and heels - no thanks. When men get dressed up, they at least get to be reasonably warm and they're feet aren't being mutilated."

"That's true. For some reason, designers think that women love to wear sleeveless dresses to Christmas parties, even when it's snowing outside. So, men are in undershirts, long-sleeved dress shirts, maybe a vest, and definitely a suit jacket, while the women are in sleeveless dresses that they probably can't sit down in comfortably while wearing shoes that they can't stand up in all night comfortably," Thad said.

"You win, Carole. I dare you to wear a long-sleeved dress or at least a jacket over your dress, which should be floor length, so you can skip the hose and high heels for the next fancy party you and Dad have to attend."

"Ha! None of us are willing to be the ones to be called out in the media."

They had made it around the outer exhibits and started looking through the standing cases.

"Ooh. Look at that," Thad pointed.

Kurt and Carole turned.

"It's gorgeous. It says the 24 emeralds are from Columbia. It's platinum with hundreds of diamonds," Kurt said.

"I'd need like three bodyguards to wear that anywhere. Maybe more," Carole laughed.

They looked around until the finally reached the Hope diamond.

"It's huge. I mean I knew it was huge, but it's enormous," Carole said. "I also knew it was blue, but it's much more blue than I had expected it to be."

"The sign says it's a billion years old and it belonged to King Louis XIV during the 17th century," Kurt said.

"I'm sure people have been wanting it for as long as it was first in someone's possession," Thad said.

After taking a few more photos, they exited the gem area and went back downstairs.

"Where to start down here?"

"How about we just start over there and work our way around clockwise?" Carole suggested.

They went in the mammals exhibit hall.

"Okay, this is really cool, but actually a lot more creepy than the insect exhibit," Thad said.

"I agree. I feel like I'm being watched," Carole said.

They walked through and looked at all of the different animals. It was like being in a zoo that had a sleeping spell put on the animals, but they were sleeping with their eyes open.

"I've never seen a lot of these animals before except in pictures. It's really interesting to see them all in one place. Photos make it difficult to visualize something's size a lot of times," Kurt said.

"Yeah, the photo could be taken in tall grass or short grass or in front of or on an average size tree or one of those monstrous trees," Thad agreed.

"I think the most surprising ones are the ones in the ocean," Carole said. "Whenever we see photos of those, there's usually nothing to give us any idea of the immensity of their size. Those whales are as big as a school bus or bigger."

After they finished walking through the mammal section, they headed to the human origins area.

"Who's up for getting some lunch and finishing the rest after we eat?" Carole asked.

"Sounds good to me," Thad said. He was actually pretty tired from all the walking, but he didn't want to put a damper on anyone's fun.

They decided to eat in the museum café. Kurt knew that Thad had to be really tired.

"Why don't you find us a table and I'll get our food?" Kurt asked him.

Thad squeezed his hand and headed off in search of a table. Kurt and Carole got in line and took the food back to the table Thad had selected. Kurt put the tray down and Thad grabbed the food. Kurt put the tray at the empty spot at the table.

Not knowing how much PDA he could get away with, Kurt opened both bags of chips quickly and put his hand under the table and took Thad's hand and pulled it on to his thigh so their hands wouldn't be resting on Thad's brace. Kurt ate with his left hand the whole meal.

After they finished eating and resting for a bit, they went back out to the rotunda and into the ocean hall.

After seeing the butterflies flying around, Kurt had thought there might be real fish on display, but they found that it was exhibits about ocean life, which were interesting, but not as exciting as watching real fish would have been.

"That is one big fossil," Thad said looking up. "I would not want to be in the water when something like that came by."

"Me neither," Carole said. "It doesn't matter if some of those whales are supposedly not carnivores, I'd be afraid it would eat me just to find out it didn't like the way I tasted." She shivered.

They went through the ice age exhibit next, and then on to the dinosaurs.

"These are so cool," Thad said as they entered the room. "I can't imagine creatures this big just walking around wherever."

"Me either," Carole said. "Horses make me kind of jumpy, I couldn't take being around things this big even if I was sure they wouldn't eat me."

After they finished looking through the dinosaur area, they took a quick look through the gift shop for a few minutes before the scheduled pick up time. They got in and went back to the Capitol Building and waited for Burt to come out so they could head back to the apartment.

That evening they ate at home again. After everyone showed Burt their favorite photos, Thad pulled out some card games that they had packed to play in Florida. The card games brought out Burt and Kurt's competitive natures and the evening was a lot more fun than the previous evening.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They got up early Saturday morning and went to the Capitol Building. Burt had passes for the three of them and he took them on a tour of the parts that he could show them, and then they went to see his office. Thad took a few pictures of the three of them in Burt's office.

After they finished at the Capitol Building, they went to the National Zoo. The car service dropped them off at the main entrance. Kurt and Thad pulled up maps of the zoo on their phones.

"Okay, I read that the zoo is on a hill and we are at the top. I've made a plan to sort of meander through the zoo in a way that won't make us have to walk back up since that's really hard on Thad. So, we're headed down the Asian Trail first."

They walked through the area. They spent the most time watching the red pandas, which didn't look like pandas at all, but were fun to watch and could be seen easily.

Everyone loved the pandas. They slowly walked all along the exhibit watching the pandas. After about 10 minutes of watching them, they went to see the Bird House and the bird exhibits.

After viewing all of the birds, they walked back toward the pandas and spent more time watching them before they headed off to see other animals.

When they walked through the Panda Plaza, Kurt decided to buy himself an artfully faded, possibly acid washed, super soft, deep red hoodie with a panda line drawing on the front. Thad found a similar hoodie in cornflower blue with a different panda drawing that he liked. Carole caught them before either one of them could pay and she snatched them and smiled and said, "Christmas presents" and got in line and paid for them. They put them on and put their Florida hoodies in the backpack Kurt was wearing, and continued their exploration of the zoo

They backtracked a little. They walked through the cheetah and zebra exhibits first and then to the wallaby area.

"I love wallabies. They're so cute," Kurt said.

"They are pretty adorable," Carole said. "I wouldn't want to make one mad, but they are super cute."

They headed towards the elephants and walked down Olmstead Walk and saw the small mammals, the gorillas, and the reptile area. After visiting the lemur area, they headed over on a small path to see the American animals, which included bald eagles, beavers, gray wolves, pelicans, harbor seals, and sea lions.

They stopped for a while to watch the sea lions.

"I think they're like water-locked dogs. They love to play with the people that come up to the tank," Kurt said.

Thad was moving his hand along the glass without touching it and one of the sea lions was chasing it the way a dog would try to get a ball out of someone's hand.

Both of them were smiling and laughing.

Carole managed to get some photos of the two of them playing with them.

The Amazonia exhibit was like a mini zoo itself. There were stingrays, fish, poison dart frogs, monkeys and caciques.

"It's so hot in here, I think I'd melt if I lived in the Amazon," Burt said.

"Nah, you'd get used to it. Plus, you wouldn't be wearing so many clothes," Carole laughed and winked at him.

Burt just rolled his eyes and looked at the monkeys.

The trail ended in a petting zoo. They headed back uphill for just a short ways to see the great cats exhibit and the second part of the gorilla exhibit. They had the car pick them up the entrance in lot C.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They planned to go out for dinner Saturday evening rather than eat at the apartment. The car took them from the zoo straight to the restaurant. Burt wanted a place with good food and a lenient dress code since Kurt and Thad's trip to see them had been planned after they had left Ohio with no dress clothes. He asked around and they went to a restaurant that had been recommended to Burt by another congressman.

They enjoyed sitting at a table together for the first time during the trip. Kurt and Thad seemed to eat their body weight in what Burt called "rabbit food" at the well-stocked salad bar that they both ordered as their meal. Carole had salad with the boys. Burt opted for grilled chicken served with a baked sweet potato and broccoli.

Over dinner, Kurt and Thad told them about the spring musical and play. Burt listened carefully and paid attention. He asked questions and genuinely tried to be interested in what they were talking about. The topic moved on to Christmas and what they'd done. Kurt gushed about how excited he was about going to the studio with Thad and watching him record some of his songs.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When they were back in the apartment and in bed Burt reflected on their day together. Burt had seen Kurt smile more in the span of a single afternoon than he had in he last several years. He finally saw a small glimpse of his son when he wasn't on edge, always looking over his shoulder for danger. He saw the bounce in Kurt's step. He saw how he never left Thad behind. They were in almost constant contact somehow. Pinky's linked, whole hands interlaced, Kurt with his hand protectively on the small of the Thad's back through crowds or narrow areas, arms around each other's waist when standing and looking at an exhibit together.

Burt figured out that this is what Art had been referring to. That their level of genuine gentleness with each other had been one of the main things that had made Art reconsider his previous notions about gay men. Burt realized that he had some internalized issues of his own that he hadn't realized. Gentleness wasn't weakness. Being gentle didn't make Kurt feminine. It made him a loving partner to Thad who was equally gentle with him.

He realized what Kurt had always alluded to - that Burt saw him in the role of a woman, which equated to weakness by society's standards. He kept telling Burt to stop treating him like a girl. Thad didn't rush to open the doors for Kurt or pull his chair out for him or do typically "male" things. When they ate out at dinner that night, Thad didn't ask Kurt what he wanted when the waiter was gone and then order for him. Kurt didn't do any of those things either. Whoever was closest to the door opened it and allowed the other to go through. They pulled out their own chairs and ordered for themselves.

He realized that Kurt had made valid complaints about the way that Burt had acted and that was as his father. And now as a representative of a lot of people in his district, he owed it to everyone to really spend time reflecting on his stances on issues. Did he believe in and support issues for a legitimate reason or just because it's how he always thought things should be without thought as to why? He had lots of things to consider.

Kurt had been the impetus for self-reflection ever since he was old enough to talk and ask questions. He had mostly asked his mother those questions and over time, he had quit asking them. Lizzie would be ashamed of Burt's behavior - he was pretty certain of it. She knew that Kurt was gay before the accident. Burt had tried to downplay the possibility saying things that always upset Lizzie, but she had been right.

He often wished he had kept in contact with Lizzie's parents. He felt bad now that Kurt had never gotten to know them. He had been a pigheaded young man. But they were the ones that went back to France before Kurt was born. They couldn't see what she saw in a mechanic from a small town. He did nothing to improve their opinion of him. What a mess he had made of things.

He reminded himself that he had done his best to support Kurt. He had paid for French lessons so he wouldn't forget how to speak it. He supported Kurt's interests. He bought him the sewing machine he wanted. He let him subscribe to fashion magazines. He took him to plays and concerts.

He knew that he couldn't keep the things from the past from Kurt anymore. He had been wrong. Pigheaded and wrong. He tossed and turned all night.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, he got up early, made coffee and tried to prepare himself for what he feared would be the end of his relationship with Kurt. Things had already been on thin ice and he was terrified that what he had to tell Kurt would make things irreparable.

Kurt and Thad woke up to the smell of coffee. Not long afterward, Carole came out of the bedroom, already dressed for the day, and started preparing breakfast for everyone. Kurt tried to help, but Burt asked him to stay put.

"Kurt, I have some things to tell you that I'm not proud of, but I need to tell you. Whatever you decide after you hear me out, I will abide by. I made choices and I'll have to live with the consequences of those choices."

"What are you talking about, Dad? Did you accept money from a PAC or accept too much from a single donor or something?"

"No, it has nothing to do with politics."

"Oh, okay."

"You were so young when your mother died and I made choices about things. How to answer your questions. What to tell you. Things that are hard."

"Okay."

"I know you've asked dozens of times how I met your mother."

"Yes. You said that she was driving through Lima from somewhere north of Lima to Columbus and her car broke down and you towed it back to the garage. You hit it off and took her to lunch while someone at the shop fixed her car. You started dating after that."

"Right."

"That she was French, but lived here with her parents."

"Technically true."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, her father was a guest lecturer or professor or something at OSU in Columbus for two years. She came to live here with her parents for the two years her father would be teaching. It was supposed to be a short-term learning experience - learning about America, improving her English. She was supposed to go back with them at the end of the two school years and start college in France. She had been here nearly a year when we met. It was a whirlwind romance. We both fell hard and fast. We were married 8 months later. She was 19. I was 22. You knew that part."

"I knew your ages."

"I had finished a 2-year business degree and had been working in my dad's shop full time for a little over a year when we met. We got married and six months or so later, she was pregnant with you. She was 21 when you were born. Her parents didn't approve of me or of her getting married here and giving up on the life she had planned for herself back in France. They went back at the end of her father's teaching contract. She obviously stayed here with me. You came along about a year after her parents had left."

"I see."

"She also had a sister who was four years older than she was who was finishing college in France while your grandparents were here. So, they had family to go back to, plus your grandfather's position to return to at whatever university he taught at in France."

Kurt was crying quietly. Thad had been holding his hand since the beginning of the conversation.

"Why are you crying?" Burt asked. "I didn't expect tears. I thought you'd be mad."

"Is her sister's name Isabelle?"

"That sounds right."

"I asked and asked to talk to Tata Belle after the accident. You acted like you thought I was talking about an imaginary friend or something. I also asked you to call Mamie and Papi. You acted like I was playing some kind of game you didn't understand."

"I still don't understand."

"I talked to them on the phone a lot, Dad. Tata Belle means Auntie Belle. Mamie and Papi are like calling your grandparents mamaw and papaw or some other kiddie name for grandmother and grandfather. I asked and asked for them and you acted like they weren't real."

"Kurt, I didn't know that you talked to them. I didn't know what you meant. You were so little. You had imaginary friends when you were in preschool, like when you were four or five. When your mother died, I thought you were just reverting to wanting the comfort of your imaginary friends from when you were younger."

"I was too young to know their real names. I still don't know their real names. Monsieur and Madame Marchand. Or at least it makes sense. Elizabeth Marie Marchand. I assume her parents' last name is Marchand."

"Yes."

"So, the last 10 years I could have still been in contact with my grandparents and my aunt?"

"I suppose so. Although, I swear to you that I didn't know that you talked to them."

"How did you let them know about the accident?"

"I wrote them a letter. I didn't have their phone number."

"Did you ever get a reply?"

"No."

"How do you know they even got the letter?"

"I don't have any way of knowing. I sent it to the address that was in the address book I found in her desk. I told you that I wasn't proud of what I had to tell you."

Kurt was processing information and an idea flashed into his mind. "Oh, God. Was anyone in the truck with the man that caused the accident?"

"Why?"

"It was Artie wasn't it? He said the accident when he was 8. I was 8, so I never put the two together because he's a year behind me in school. But I bet his birthday is near the time of the accident. I bet he had just turned 8 and I was like a month from turning 9 and he got held back a year too."

"Kurt, Nancy and I decided to never tell the two of you. We knew you'd grow up in the same schools and it was too much of a burden for a child to know that his dead father had caused the accident that killed your mother. You can't say anything to him or anyone else. He has amnesia surrounding the event itself. He doesn't know that it was his father driving. He just knows he was in an accident. She said that she would tell him when he was an adult and would be old enough to not feel guilty."

"What does he think happened to his dad?"

"He hadn't seen his dad in a long time because he'd been in jail. He wouldn't have even recognized him that night. He hadn't seen him in probably five or six years. That night, he was pretty much kidnapping Artie and Nancy. He forced them into the truck. Artie can't remember the night of the accident."

"Well, some day soon, his mom gets to have a talk like this with Artie," Kurt said sarcastically.

"Kurt."

"Look, I'm trying to not be really, really angry with you right now. You know Aunt Mildred and Uncle Andy don't like me. It's always just been me and you and now I found out that you intentionally didn't seek out my grandparents and my aunt who could have been part of my life. And to top it off, they may not even know that my mother died. I am going to fix this. I will work on getting over being mad at you. I understand that you didn't know I was talking to them. But that doesn't excuse you from finding a real way to contact them and let them know what happened because if you had, you would have learned that they had been part of my life the whole time. And if they did get the letter you sent, then their lack of contact with me is partly on them. You had a shop. If they had a concern about why they hadn't heard from my mother in a few weeks, it would not have been impossible to get the shop's address or phone number to contact you. There seems to be plenty of blame to share in this situation."

"Yeah."

"Wait. Mr. Abrams is a nice guy. I met him back in sophomore year when we did the wheelchair week."

"Jim's his stepdad, who adopted him so he's legally his father. Artie's biological father's last name was Robertson. When his father was in jail, Nancy remarried, a nice guy that time around. His father lost parental rights because of what he had done that had put him in jail. When she married Jim, he adopted Artie. Artie doesn't remember his biological father at all. To his knowledge, Jim Abrams is his father."

"Well, Artie had nothing to do what we were originally talking about and I never see him anymore and if I ever do, I won't say a thing about the accident. Neither of us was drinking and driving, so we had no fault in the whole thing. And I am going to get to the bottom of my grandparents and aunt. I want mom's address book. You tell Carole where it is so she can bring it to me the next time she comes to see me."

"Alright."

"Carole, will you walk with me down to that donut shop I saw yesterday? I'm in the mood for something sweet."

"Um, sure, honey. Let me grab a jacket."

"No rush. I have to go get dressed too, but I'll be quick." Less than 10 minutes later, Kurt was out of the bathroom wearing jeans and the zoo hoodie he had gotten the day before. He walked over to Thad and leaned down and kissed him. "You can get ready while we're gone. It won't take long. I'll bring something back you like." He leaned closer and whispered, "I'm telling Carole about France. I love you." And he kissed him one more time and stood up. "Carole," he called out. "I'm ready."

She came out of the bedroom with a jacket on. "Okay, honey, let's go."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Once they exited the building Kurt started talking. "I'm going to tell you something, but only because I want someone to know now so that later on it will be known that my decision wasn't a knee-jerk reaction to what my dad just told me this morning. But I can't tell you, if you're not willing to keep my secret until I'm ready to tell dad. I can't tell him now, even though I had planned to. We told Thad's parents last week when they were with us in Florida. But given what dad just told me, he will think I just made it up to get back at him."

"Alright, honey. I won't tell him, so long as you are actually going to tell him at some point."

"I definitely will. Like I said, the plan was to tell both of you today. Sebastian's parents know. Thad's parents know. I wanted to tell you two, but for now, it will just be you."

"What is it, honey?"

"Sebastian is going back to Paris at the end of the school year. Thad and I are going with him."

"To Paris? Like for a vacation?"

"Yes, to Paris, but not for a vacation. To go to college there."

"What?"

"Last fall when everything was falling apart, Sebastian's mom, Solange, put two and two together and figured out that I could claim French citizenship since my mother was French. I filled out all of the necessary paperwork and Solange did the research work on the French end of things. I requested a copy of my French birth certificate and in November when we were in Florida, I applied for my French National ID card and a French passport. I have dual citizenship. College for French citizens is virtually free, like $500 a year."

"Wow, honey. That's a lot to process. So, you're going to Paris to stay?"

"Well, at least through college. I guess it depends after that. When everything was so bad, I wanted to get as far away from Ohio as I could and France sounded about as far away as I could possibly achieve. My hope is that when all 8 of the guys that are in jail get out that they each decide that the effort to get a Passport and a Visa, and couple of thousand dollars for an airplane ticket to exact more revenge on me, along with the potential of ending up in jail in a foreign country, is too high a price to pay."

Kurt opened the bakery door and they started looking at their choices.

"So, you went ahead and told me so that Burt can't accuse you of running off to France as a punishment for him keeping you from your grandparents and aunt."

"Exactly."

"I want to tell you something as well. I can't tell you the details, but I just want you to know that a lot of adults have secrets that they've kept from their kids because they thought it best. I have one too. I'm going to have to have a talk with Finn about something and it's probably going to go worse than the talk your dad just had with you and probably about as well as the talk Nancy will have to have with Artie some day."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Unfortunately adults don't always have a 'good' versus 'bad' choice to make. Sometimes neither choice is good, but when there's a child involved, the adults responsible for the child choose the option that affects the child less negatively. You're old enough to realize this now. Last fall, you made a choice that seemed like the right one and WAS the right one, but in the end your 'right' decision caused a lot of things that were even more wrong to happen. Your dad made a choice, which he thought was reasonable. Your mother made a choice, which she thought was reasonable. She never shared her actions with your dad. She wanted her side of the family to know you. That was good. She didn't tell your dad. Maybe that made her life easier at the time. You know how stubborn your dad can be. So, she kept it from him. He made the choice to continue things they way he thought they were. He thought you didn't know them. He left it that way. He didn't make a choice to intentionally harm you. He and I have been talking about what it is that I need to tell Finn and I would guess that those conversations brought these issues back for your dad. I would venture to guess that your grandparents and aunt hate your dad, if they're still around. If I were a betting woman, I would bet that they never got the letter, and that when they didn't hear from you or your mom anymore that they assumed that it was your dad that put an end to it."

"Oh."

"So, back at the apartment, you mentioned there being enough blame to go around. If your grandparents believed that it was your dad that prevented your mother from contacting them anymore, they are going to place the blame 100% on him."

"So, when I find them, there's a good chance, I'm going to be the one to tell them that my mother's been dead for 10 years. And that when if they find out about my miserable childhood of bullying, they're going to hate my dad even more?"

"Exactly."

"Let me order Thad's donut and hot chocolate. Are you getting anything?"

"I'm not in the mood."

"Me neither. It was just the only thing I could think of to get you out of the apartment alone. I'll have a second coffee though. I'll get it 3/4 decaf though." Kurt got in line and ordered and stepped to the side to wait for his coffee and the hot chocolate to be made.

"So, you didn't apply to schools here then?"

"Nope. Thad, Sebastian, and I all applied to schools in Paris. Just so you know, we will be living with Sebastian. Solange is getting married in June and she's giving her flat to Sebastian. It's already paid for. So, my living expenses will be very low."

The barista handed Kurt his coffee, the hot chocolate he ordered for Thad, and a paper sack with the donut he chose in it.

Carole grabbed the paper sack so Kurt could walk more easily and continued their conversation. "Well, that's helpful. So, no rent, no tuition. What will you do with the educational fund that was created from your mother's life insurance?"

"Well, the stipulation is that it has to be used for tuition, fees, or books. But it also states that it becomes mine when I turn 25 if I choose not to go to college. So, I'm assuming that the remainder of the money will be turned over to me at age 25. I'll have to find out for certain."

"I see."

"Thad's parents are putting in transfers to go back to England."

"I didn't realize they were in England before."

"Thad's lived in Spain, France, England, and the US. He lived in England for a long time and went to school there until he started at Dalton as a freshman. Ellen is American. Donovan is British."

"I didn't know that."

"Neither did I for a while. I had never heard Donovan speak with a British accent. I thought they were both American. It wasn't until we started talking about moving to France for school that I found out that Thad has dual UK/US citizenship. He can live in France without a Visa or the equivalent of a green card or whatever it would be called. And college will be very cheap for him as well since he's a EU citizen. More expensive than it will be for me, but less expensive than going to college here."

"All very interesting. You've done a lot of research."

"I have. That's why I wanted to tell you now. I wanted you to realize that I didn't just make a quick reactionary decision to spite my dad. I've been working on this for months, close to four months I guess - not long after the attack in the club in Columbus."

"That was a while ago."

"Do you want to see? Only Thad and Sebastian have seen. I'm going to get a tattoo as soon as I can. I went to see a tattoo artist in Florida that specializes in covering over scars. I'm getting it done over spring break."

"You don't have to show me."

"I know." Kurt handed her the coffee in his left hand and used it to slide the sleeve up on his hoodie so his right forearm was showing.

"Oh, honey. That's awful."

Kurt put his sleeve down and took the coffee cup back. "I know. I'm tired of wearing a bandage covering my arm, so I didn't put one on yet today, but I always put one on before I go out. I know Dad will not be pleased with me getting a tattoo, but I just can't leave my arm like that."

"I understand. I think he'll understand. He may not be a big fan of tattoos, but he wouldn't want you to have to see that on yourself every day for the rest of your life."

They were back at the apartment high rise.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt sat down next to Thad, who pulled him close and wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulder. He took the hot chocolate with his other hand. Kurt took the donut out of the bag and fed it to him. Thad indicated for Kurt to take a bite. He knew him well enough to know that he had not gotten anything for himself. Kurt smiled and took a small bite.

The awkward silence in the room was broken by Carole insisting that Burt help her cut up the vegetables for lunch. The two of them went into the kitchen, which didn't exactly provide any privacy for Kurt and Thad, but they were at least a little farther away.

Kurt leaned forward and put his empty coffee cup on the coffee table. He slipped his shoes off, pulled his feet up onto the couch to his right and pulled Thad's right arm up and over his shoulders again and leaned into Thad.

Thad undid their position, put his empty cup on the table too, and moved to the other end of the couch. He lay back and patted his chest, indicating for Kurt to lie down on him. He made space between his legs for Kurt's legs. Kurt scooted up and laid his head down on Thad's chest. He interlaced his left hand with Thad's right hand and pulled Thad's hand to his mouth and kissed his knuckles and just kept their hands in that spot.

Thad slipped his hand up under the edge of Kurt's hoodie at the small of his back and placed his hand there. Kurt wrapped his right arm across Thad's shoulder and behind his neck. Kurt could hear Thad's heart beating and could feel him breathing.

"Am I squishing you?" Kurt asked quietly.

"No, it's perfect." He kissed the top of his head. "I love you so much."

Kurt kissed Thad's knuckles again. "I love you too."

Burt looked out into the living room and saw them lying that way. He took a step, but Carole managed to grab his sleeve and whispered, "Don't you dare."

Burt huffed and turned back to the counter and started chopping a little more fiercely.

She kept her voice low. "After what you told him this morning, you're lucky that he didn't just call a cab, grab their stuff and head for the airport four hours early. He was very mature about the whole thing."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After Kurt woke up from his mini-nap on Thad, he got up, switched to his Dalton hoodie like Thad, and packed up all of their stuff, making sure not to leave anything behind in the bathroom.

Once everything was packed up, Carole made grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone except Burt. There was enough chili left over for one large bowl and three cups. So, Burt ate the heart-healthy chili and the other three indulged in ooey-gooey cheesy sandwiches with their cups of chili and raw vegetables, which to Burt's dislike, Carole insisted that he eat as well.

Lunch was a less tense that Carole had anticipated it being. Kurt was taking the whole situation like the adult that he was. Carole was the one to stand in the kitchen at eat this time, allowing Kurt to sit next to Thad. She was certain that Thad's hand on Kurt's thigh was helping keep the mood of the meal as light as possible.

Carole knew that despite their inability to get married in Ohio, that Thad was Kurt's life partner. He was unflappable and steadfast in his love for Kurt and it was clear that Kurt loved him beyond measure. And with what Kurt had told her, she set out to spend as much time with the two of them as she could manage before they headed off to France. A thought of a Paris trip to visit them flashed through her mind as well and brought a smile to her face.

Burt's phone buzzed as they were finishing, letting him know that the town car had arrived.

Carole was the first to hug both of them. "I'm so glad that I got to see you both. I'll be making more trips to Westerville, I promise. My high school friend offered me the twin bed in her spare room any time I wanted to stay over instead of making a trip back in the dark since it gets dark so early this time of year."

"That's nice of her."

"I'll be taking her up on her offer." She hugged them both again.

Burt shook Thad's hand. "I meant what I said this morning."

Thad nodded.

Burt hugged Kurt, but didn't say anything.

Kurt put his backpack on and picked Thad's up. The four of them went down to the car together. Kurt and Thad got in and waved as they drove away.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Five and a half hours later, they were back in their room at Dalton. Kurt dumped their dirty clothes into their hamper, including the ones he had on. Thad caught on quickly and stripped down to his underwear and the brace and went into the bathroom and started the water heating up. He got his brace off and held it out to Kurt who came in just a minute or so after him. They enjoyed every minute of their time in the shower.

They were glad they had changed the sheets and had a nice clean bed to get in, which is where they headed as soon as they had dried off. Thad had his brace back off in no time, Kurt grabbed the comforter from the other bed so they'd be warm enough without their pajamas, set his phone alarm for the next morning, and they cuddled up as close as they could get.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They woke up at 5:00, which was an hour before the alarm had been set for. They spent the hour quietly kissing and snuggling. They got up when the alarm went off and set about doing all of the things they typically did on school days.

Once they had everything ready, they knocked on Sebastian's door. He opened it and was met with Kurt flinging himself into his arms. He wasn't quite expecting it and Kurt knocked him back a step.

"Well, good morning to you too," he said as he wrapped his arms around Kurt.

"Breakfast?"

"Of course." He let go of Kurt and turned to go grab his bag and the three of them headed down the hall to the cafeteria.

"How was DC?"

"We liked the museums and the zoo," Thad said.

"The pandas were great."

The three of them grabbed food and walked to a table and resumed their conversation.

"We were glad to be back in a bed last night," Thad said. "Kurt's parents are in a one-bedroom apartment and we slept on the couch for three nights."

"What did you do after you came back?" Kurt asked.

"Mostly just read. Watched some movies."

"Do you think your mom would help me with more detective work?"

"If it's not illegal, sure."

"I have to get more information first, but I just wanted to know whether she'd help. I learned some things yesterday morning. I'll tell you, but not in here."

"Got it."

"I only told Carole about our plans, not my dad."

"Okay. I'll tell my dad not to say anything yet. I told him that you were going to tell your parents over break." Sebastian pulled his phone out and texted his dad before he let it slip from his to do list.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"My parents know," Thad said. "But they never talk to Kurt's parents. We'll get to introduce them when they come to Ohio next month. Your dad can come too. I should tell them though, just in case since you gave my dad your dad's phone number." Thad sent his dad an email instead because he didn't honestly know where he was and didn't want to wake him up by sending a text.

"Okay. Just let me know as soon as you know the dates so my dad can work it into his schedule."

"Let me add that question to the email. There. Sent," Thad said.

"So the dance instructor comes tomorrow for the first lesson. What did the council decide?"

Thad answered, "Everyone has to attend the first two sessions. Anyone who gets approval can then skip the next three weeks of lessons. Then, we'll have everyone back together again to start rehearsals on the choreography for Regionals and the a cappella competition if we vote to enter this year."

"Sounds good. Hopefully three weeks will give them all time to be able to distinguish their right from left and learn all of the basic terminology. I know the Warblers group was previously mostly a 'stool choir' and that's how the auditions are still run. People are chosen based solely on their singing skills, which is fine. But in the future, the group might consider these types of dance lessons at the beginning of each school year for the first month to make sure that everyone has the skills needed to learn the dances that have become a key part of the performances," Kurt suggested.

"I think you should bring it up to the group today," Thad pointed out. "No one would be prejudged for their dance skills or lack thereof, so it wouldn't be discriminating against people with disabilities that prevent them from dancing, but it would get the able-bodied members up to speed with the terminology. Things like being told to do a 'kick-ball-change to the left' should not confuse people."

"We can talk about it more at lunch. I'll get David and Trent to sit with us. It will fall to them to implement the changes with whoever else is on the council with them next fall," Thad said.

They put their trays up and headed off to class.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

As soon as the Warblers were dismissed, Kurt headed straight to their room. Thad stayed back to talk to some of the Warblers. Kurt searched for the Ohio State University human resources department phone number and gave them a call. He had to speak to a couple of different people. In the end, he found two people willing to try to get the information he was looking for. He made an appointment on Wednesday to talk to both people again.

By the time Kurt got off the phone, Thad was back. Thad had barely managed to get into the room and shut the door before Kurt gently turned him and pushed him back against the door for a passionate kiss. Thad let his bag slide to the floor and wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck.

"We fell asleep last night and skipped the massage I've been wanting to give you. Let's get our homework done before dinner and then when we come back we'll have lots and lots of time for really good massages."

"Sounds perfect," he said before he moved back in for more kisses.

They settled in and finished all of their assignments before dinner and left with Sebastian when he knocked on their door.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They had all grabbed what they wanted and met back at a table and started to eat while they talked.

"So, now that it's been announced to everyone, what do you think you want to do? The play or the musical?" Sebastian asked.

"Well, both."

"I know," Sebastian rolled his eyes. "But you can't do both."

"I guess the musical since I'm applying for music programs. Getting a good part in the musical would look better on my CV than getting a part in the play, I think."

"Are you going to audition?" Thad asked Sebastian.

"Sure, once I find out what Kurt's auditioning for. The whole point is to have fun."

Kurt was pulling up a cast list with a synopsis of the parts. He sent the link to Thad and Sebastian. All three read through all of the parts.

"I'd like to get the Cat in the Hat because he's the lead," Kurt said.

"I'll audition for Thing 1 or Thing 2. I think Jeff would be perfect to play opposite me. It says good movers," Sebastian said.

"I think Trent would make a good Horton. He has such a sweet disposition. Maybe I could do Mr. Mayor. It doesn't mention needing to be a good mover. Maybe he doesn't dance much. I'm not really all that much for speaking though. So, I'd really need to see the book. Plus, none of these says the vocal range for the parts. I'd be willing to do whatever parts just mostly sing and hang around in the background. Just so I could do it with the two of you."

Kurt smiled at the fact that Thad mostly just wanted to be in it because he and Sebastian were going to audition. "I could see David, Nick and Richard as the brothers that sing like a hip hop group."

"So, it's agreed. We'll all audition for _Seussical_ ," Sebastian said.

The other two nodded.

Thad looked up the performance dates on his phone. "The Sunday performance is the weekend my parents will be here. That would be cool. They've never been to anything I've been in since I've been here."

"That would be cool," Kurt agreed.

"Maybe they could stay at my dad's and Kurt's parents could stay too. We could stay too. They could meet."

"We'll see," Kurt said.

Sebastian looked at Thad quizzically without Kurt seeing him. Thad shook his head nearly imperceptibly, but Sebastian caught on and didn't ask anything else.

Kurt changed the subject. "It looks like someone in the Warblers had some influence over when the rehearsals would be."

"That was the Warbler Council. We told the teachers that will be directing that the Warblers have an after-school rehearsal every Tuesday and Thursday. So, they set the musical practices for Monday, Wednesday, Friday since they figured that a lot of the singing cast would come from the Warblers."

They put their trays away and headed back into the dorm building.

"Can we find out if we are going to sing at graduation ahead of time this year? Rushing the arrangement and adding rehearsals during finals wasn't a good idea last year. I mean the song came out great, but we can avoid the pressure if we just know in advance."

"I'll bring that up and have Trent work on it."

"So how about his weekend we go to Sebastian's?" Kurt suggested. "I know we could use a trip to Target or somewhere to get some stuff we need."

"I'll find out. If we can't we could have a movie night in the lounge and invite all the Warblers."

"That sounds like a good Plan B," Thad said.

"On that note, we're going to go get some things done," Kurt said as he and Thad stopped in front of their door. "We'll see you at breakfast tomorrow. You can let us know whether it's Chez Sebastian or Movie night for Saturday."

"Will do."


	18. Chapter 18

Once inside with the door shut and locked, Thad asked, "And just what things are we going to get done?"

"Well, I'm going to undress you, make sure your nice and clean and then give you the massage I've been wanting to give you."

"Mmm. Do I get to do the same thing?"

"If you want."

"I definitely want to.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A couple of hours later, they were both feeling a lot more relaxed and Kurt was visibly happier. Kurt rolled onto his back and took Thad's hand.

"I have something I want to sing for you."

"Really? I planned to sing for you," Thad laughed and squeezed Kurt's hand.

"Can I go first?"

"Sure."

They both sat up. Kurt grabbed his phone and started a backing track. He slid back against the headboard and started to sing "Every Time We Touch". Halfway through, he took Thad's right hand and lifted it up and pulling it over his shoulders so that Thad's arm was around his shoulders and kept singing.

 _Your arms are my castle. Your heart is my sky._

 _They wipe away tears that I cry._

 _The good and the bad times we've been through them all._

 _You make me rise when I fall._

' _Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling._

 _And every time we kiss I swear I could fly._

 _Can't you feel my heart beating fast? I want this to last._

 _Need you by my side._

' _Cause every time we touch, I feel the static._

 _And every time we kiss I reach for the sky._

 _Can't you hear my heart beat so I can't let you go._

 _Want you in my life._

Thad squeezed Kurt's shoulder and gently pulled him closer. He turned and used his free hand to guide Kurt's face toward his own. With his thumb, he wiped away the few tears that escaped after Kurt had stopped singing. "That was beautiful. You did that arrangement didn't you?"

"I may or may not have snuck off to the music room during French this morning and recorded the keyboard track."

"I see. Well, it was beautiful, much better than the original. Thank you."

Kurt closed the distance and kissed Thad, which he happily returned. "The words are completely true. Touching you is... It blocks out everything bad. It's like this silent proof that I'll be okay. We can be anywhere doing anything and just the slightest touch from you makes everything better. I remember the night we had the Warblers party just a few days after you had asked me out. You sat down on the sofa to watch the movie and left just enough room for me to sit right next to you. I was tense because it was a tight space, but I mustered up the courage to sit down. It was right after I had told everyone why I had transferred. You moved your arm so that it was on your leg. You turned your hand palm up and just offered to hold my hand. It was like offering a life ring to a drowning person. I was so scared. I reached out and you wrapped your hand around mine and it was like electricity, in a good way."

"I remember in the woods, the next week. You took a huge risk and let your walls down. I could feel how afraid you were, but you were so brave and you let me hug you. After a minute or two of what seemed like focused effort on your part, you relaxed."

"And then your hug gave me some kind of boldness infusion and asked if I could kiss you."

"An electrifying kiss. Definitely, one of my favorite things now." He kissed Kurt. "Yep. Amazing every single time."

Kurt laughed and leaned back in and kissed him again. He moved from sitting next to Thad to straddling his right leg and pressing in to deepen the kiss. Thad slid down in the bed and pulled Kurt down on top of him.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad was attempting to return to breathing normally, but he wasn't willing to stop kissing Kurt to do it. Between gentle kisses, he said, "I love you so much." He wrapped his arms around Kurt and held him chest to chest.

Kurt put his head down on Thad's shoulder and nuzzled into his neck. "I love you." It only took a few minutes for Kurt to fall asleep in Thad's loving embrace. The nap was short-lived because Thad couldn't get the covers up over their shoulders without moving and the movement caused Kurt to stir. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you."

"Never be sorry for that. The fact that you find me relaxing enough to sleep on makes me feel really special. I know I'm the only person you'd ever let this close to you. I just knew you'd get chilled with your shoulders uncovered like that. I was trying to get us covered up and let you sleep, not wake you up."

"It's okay. I wanted to hear your song, not sleep yet anyway. And you're right. You're the only person I'd let hold me like this." He kissed Thad gently and pushed up and scooted to the side. Do you need your guitar?"

"Yes." He sat up as well. "This song came out last week and it fits how I feel about you - how I feel about us."

Kurt got up, laid the guitar case on the extra bed, opened it, took it out and gave it to Thad.

Thad made sure it was still tuned. He started playing the intro to "I Won't Give Up" and then started to sing.

 _When I look into your eyes_

 _It's like watching the night sky_

 _Or a beautiful sunrise_

 _Well, there's so much they hold_

 _And just like them old stars_

 _I see that you've come so far_

 _To be right where you are_

 _How old is your soul?_

 _Well, I won't give up on us_

 _Even when the skies get rough_

 _I'm giving you all my love_

 _I'm still looking up._

He continued to sing the rest of the song while Kurt sat nearby and listened to every word. It wasn't often that Thad sang to him. Most of the time, he just played his guitar, which Kurt loved, but Kurt had never heard this song before and it was perfect.

"That was beautiful. Thank you. It means more to me than I could ever put into words that you stick by me. It's still a daily struggle to accept it. Will you sing the song again? I want to record it so I can listen to it when I feel down."

Thad nodded.

Kurt grabbed his phone and used it to record Thad singing the song the second time. Once he had finished, Kurt put the phone back on the desk. "Do you still want your guitar or do you want me to put it up?"

Thad kept it and played another song for him first.

"I like that one. Well, I like all of the songs you write. That one was sort of angry and sad and hopeful all at the same time. Does it have a name?"

"'Truth.'"

"Fitting name."

"It goes with the rest of the ones in the _Story of Us_ group."

"It was about yesterday morning, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Your ability to capture moments in time in song is extraordinary. It really just blows my mind. You're insanely talented."

Thad didn't say anything.

Kurt took his guitar and put it back away. He got back into bed afterwards. Thad gently pulled him into the little spoon position and covered him up. He wrapped his arm around Kurt. Kurt held Thad's hand and intertwined their fingers.

"Don't forget to call the studio soon to schedule your time. We need to get our applications finished soon. I'm glad they're doing the casting so quickly. Maybe I'll get a good part and be able to put it on my CV before we have to send them in."

"I'll call tomorrow." Thad placed small kisses on Kurt's neck. "Are you ready to try to sleep?"

"Sure."

Thad squeezed him, his best attempt at a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The rest of the week was a little nerve wracking because Kurt was determined to get the lead and spent a lot of time working on the lines and the song for his audition on Friday. Sebastian convinced Jeff to audition with him so they could be Thing 1 and Thing 2. Thad opted to audition for Mr. Mayor.

Art was going out of town for the weekend, so they opted to reschedule for the following weekend.

Kurt spoke with both people at OSU that he had made appointments with. He had managed to get the information on what department his grandfather had been a guest lecturer for and his first name. It was another step in the process. He called the music department and set up an appointment to speak with the head of the department a few days later because the secretary he spoke to had only worked in the department for a few years and had no useful information.

He called back on Friday, only to find out that the head of the department had only been with the university for about fifteen years in his current position. He suggested a couple of the other professors from the department who had been there during the time period that Kurt's grandfather was there. Kurt took down their names and email addresses and decided to pursue the information that way rather than trying to catch them when they were in their offices. He decided if they ignored his emails, he'd find out their office hours and make a trip to see them.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Monday rolled around and Kurt was bouncing with excitement to see the cast list go up at lunchtime on the bulletin board near the music room. Sebastian saw Kurt sit down with no lunch.

"Where's your food?"

"Too excited. As soon as you two finish, let's go wait for the list to go up. I can't eat until I know."

Kurt's declaration of starvation until he knew got Sebastian and Thad to eat efficiently and refrain from talking or teasing Kurt at all. They finished quickly and put their trays away.

"Let's go then, so you still have time to eat afterwards," Thad said, taking Kurt's hand and walking toward the music room hallway. Sebastian followed along.

"Good afternoon, boys."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Browning," they said in unison.

They stood back against the far wall, giving him room to hang both of the cast lists up and walk away before they rushed over to see the _Seussical_ cast list.

"I got it! I really got it! I'm the Cat in the Hat!" Kurt exclaimed, almost jumping up and down in place because was rocking up onto his toes with so much enthusiasm.

"I'm Thing 1 and Jeff's Thing 2 and Thad's the mayor," Sebastian said.

"We all got the parts we wanted," Thad said enthusiastically.

"We did! This is SO exciting! I would have never, ever gotten a lead at McKinley. This is perfect. I'm so excited."

"Let's take your excited self back to the cafeteria and get you some lunch," Thad said.

"Fine, fine. I'll eat." He looked around and no one was in the hall yet. He pulled Thad's hand up and kissed it. "I know you care and don't want me to skip meals. Let's go."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Seussical rehearsals were on Monday/Wednesday/Friday. The Warblers dance lessons were on Tuesdays and Thursdays and despite the fact that Kurt and Sebastian did not need dance lessons, they opted to stay those days and work as assistant instructors. They stood one on each side of the instructor and demonstrated all of the moves and techniques, giving the Warblers more than one person to watch. It also gave them insight into who just needed training and who was fairly hopeless when it came to dancing skills. They needed the info because the two of them along with David and Jeff would be working on the choreography for Regionals. Thad still had physical therapy on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so he was not present.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Friday evening the car service picked Sebastian, Kurt and Thad and took them to Art's house for the weekend. They did the shopping they needed to do early Saturday morning, but spent the rest of the day relaxing and studying. Sunday morning, they made a big breakfast and Carole came for the morning. She brought the address book that Kurt had been waiting to get. The three boys had already decided to go to COSI for a few hours before returning to Dalton. They headed out around 11:00.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The three of them were enjoying themselves as the always did when they went. Kurt kept feeling on edge, but he couldn't identify why. Thad could sense his unease and would discretely touch his hand or back whenever he could.

They entered a gallery that had a new whisper exhibit. Sebastian and Thad stayed put and Kurt walked over to the other side of the room to try it out. He barely made it to the other part of the exhibit when someone walked up behind him and grabbed his wrist and pulled it up behind him.

"Walk to the closest bathroom. Don't give any indication anything is wrong."

Kurt looked around to see which way to go. It was just before the exhibit in a dark corner area. He walked straight toward the bathroom. The instant they were both in the bathroom, a hand covered his mouth and he was shoved into the handicapped stall.

"Do not scream. I will uncover your mouth if you swear on your boyfriend's life you won't scream."

Kurt nodded. The hand was removed. His right arm was still twisted behind his back. He felt his sleeve being slid up.

"Wasn't that enough of a warning? Why are you out spreading your gayness around? There are children here. They shouldn't be exposed to your perverse lifestyle. I keep seeing you touch your boyfriend's hand and back. It's disgusting."

Kurt kept his voice low. "You didn't seem to have the same opinion when you tried to kiss me a second time."

"Shut up. I don't have anything with me to finish what I was writing the first time. I didn't come prepared, but rest assured, I won't leave home unprepared again. If I ever see you out in public spreading your perverseness around, rest assured, I'll finish what I started and it might not just be your arm the next time."

"You're as gay as I am. Why am I the perverse one?"

"I AM NOT GAY. You infected me. Wearing skirts and corsets and confusing my mind. My mom helps our church run this camp and I volunteered this past summer so I could get all of those perverse thoughts out of my mind. I have a girlfriend, one of the Cheerios. She's hot and she's all up on this."

"Well, good for you - a girl willing to have sex with you. Congratulations."

"If you value your boyfriend's ugly mug, you'll watch yourself, Hummel. I brought my cousin here for her birthday. I have to go watch her. I told her not to move that I had to go to the bathroom. Stay inside that school of yours. Three of the fours guys caught for vandalism get out Monday. Matthis got a longer sentence for being a dumbass and hitting the security guard. This is your only warning."

His wrist was released. A few seconds later, Kurt heard the bathroom door shut. He stood there frozen.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad and Sebastian waited for about five minutes, thinking that maybe there was a line at the other part of the exhibit. Maybe kids that didn't really understand how it worked? Eventually, they moved away and walked to the other half of the exhibit only to find that Kurt was nowhere to be seen. They first started to split up to look, but decided that was a bad idea with Thad's leg. They walked to the opening of the room and scanned the whole area looking for Kurt.

Thad pulled his phone out and called Kurt and it went to voicemail. He texted and got no response. They scanned the room again.

"There's a bathroom in the corner. Maybe he went in there," Sebastian said.

He and Thad walked to the bathroom and opened the door.

"Kurt?" Thad said.

No response.

All three bathroom stall doors were ajar, but Sebastian leaned over to check for feet. He pointed to the handicapped stall. Thad walked over and put his hand on the stall door.

"Kurt, I'm going to open the stall door." He pushed it opens slowly to find Kurt standing frozen in place. He moved toward Kurt and reached out to touch him and Kurt jumped back like he was going to be electrocuted.

"Don't touch me."

"Alright. Will you follow me out?" Thad asked.

"No. Just leave me in here for right now."

"I can't do that."

"You have to unless you're going to forcibly remove me."

"Alright. I'm stepping out of the stall. If you won't come with me, how are you going to get back to school?"

"I'm..." Kurt didn't say anything for a while. "I'll take a cab."

"You'll need cash then." Sebastian reached for his wallet and pulled out $100. He stepped into the stall far enough to offer the cash to Kurt.

Kurt reached out and took it without touching Sebastian. He put it in his front pocket.

Sebastian stepped back out of the stall. He stepped toward Thad and shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the door. Thad followed him out. They stepped far enough away from the door that they could talk quietly without Kurt potentially being able to hear them.

"What are we going to do?" Thad asked. He was on verge of a breakdown.

"I guess we just stay where we can see the bathroom to make sure no one goes in and bothers him and to make sure he eventually comes out and takes a cab back to the school."

"He recoiled from my touch."

"It's not you. You know that. Someone got to him here. Someone grabbed him and forced him into the bathroom. I didn't see any evidence of physical harm. He's not bleeding. No bruising. He wasn't doubled over. My guess from his reaction is that you were threatened."

"Oh, God."

"So, we move somewhere less conspicuous and we watch. If he doesn't come out in an hour, I'll go back in."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thirty minutes later, Kurt came out of the restroom. He looked around, but only in the area between the restroom and the door to the exhibit hall. He walked straight to the door and then directly to the lockers to reclaim the two lockers full of his and Thad's stuff. He felt bad taking Thad's coat, knowing that he would be cold all the way back to school, but he had no choice. He put his own coat on, put his satchel on, and then put one of the backpacks on. He put Thad's coat over his arm and grabbed the second backpack and went outside.

Sebastian moved to the lockers to grab his stuff, while Thad moved toward the doors to watch Kurt. Sebastian was on the phone to the car service when he walked up next to Thad.

"We need someone to get here right away. I know we weren't scheduled for two more hours. There's no one? Fine. Don't come in two hours. We won't be here," Sebastian said to the person on the phone.

"I'll call a cab. Go find an ATM fast. Withdraw more cash. We have to get back to the school. I'd do it, but we both know how slow that would be. Go!"

Sebastian took off for the information desk on the far side of the room. Thad saw him run around the corner and come back two minutes later. He practically ran across the entry area back to Thad. The two of them went outside to wait for the taxi. A few minutes later it showed up and they headed to Dalton.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad unlocked the door to their room and opened the door. All of their stuff was in the room. Thad's coat had been hung up neatly. All of their bags were on the extra bed. Thad could see that Kurt had taken off the clothes he had been wearing.

"He's changed and he's not here." Thad said as he came back out of the bathroom checking to see if Kurt was in there. He called Kurt and he heard Kurt's phone vibrate on his desk. "And he left his phone behind."

"Where would he go?"

"He's afraid. He won't have gone back out of the building. But he obviously doesn't want us to know where he is since he left his phone behind."

"You go look for him. He needs you. I'll stay here. I have my books. I'll do more reading. If he shows up, I'll call you."

"If I find him, I'll let you know. Crap. I have to change." He grabbed Dalton issued sweats and went in the bathroom and changed as quickly as possible. He tossed his clothes in the hamper on the way out the door."

He searched the whole first floor dorm area, which wasn't that large so it didn't take that long. He was 99% certain that Kurt hadn't gone to anyone's room. He exited the dorm building into the hall and entered the cafeteria area, which was open since dinner was being served already. He walked through to the other side and looked out into the courtyard and didn't see him. He didn't figure he would. He turned around to keep looking and Kurt was standing right behind him.

"Oh, my God. You're okay." Thad wrapped his hands around Kurt and pulled him close.

"Not in here." Kurt stepped back. "Help me finish sneaking off enough food for a picnic in our room. Go put some stuff in your pockets. I don't have nearly enough food."

"Don't worry about it. Just come back to our room and I'll order Chinese or anything you want."

Kurt nodded. Thad walked out of the cafeteria with Kurt following him. As soon as they stepped out into the hallway, Thad took his hand. Once they got through the dorm building door, Thad pulled him into the lounge area and saw that it was empty and kissed Kurt. "I love you so much and you scared me to half to death. Next time you run off in a taxi, leave your phone on your desk, and disappear, at least leave a note that says you're playing Aladdin or something."

"I'm sorry. I thought I could get back to the room before the two of you got back. I figured the car service would take a while to get there since you had to call them to come early."

"They were busy. We took a cab and left about 15 minutes after you did."

"You've been searching for me?"

"Absolutely. And Sebastian is sitting in our room just in case you came back, so he could let me know." Thad pulled out his phone and texted "found him" to Sebastian. "There, now he'll stop worrying." The tears he'd been holding back came flowing freely now.

Kurt pulled him close and held him tight. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I promised I wouldn't leave you. I meant that. Even if I have to go, I won't leave without telling you."

"Come on. Let's go to our room." Thad pried himself loose and took Kurt's hand. They walked down the hall the short distance to their room and Thad opened it.

"Kurt!" Sebastian enveloped him in a hug. "You scared me. I wanted to go look for you, too, but I thought you might actually want your phone and come back for it when you realized that you had left it behind."

Kurt hugged him back. "I'm sorry. I thought I could grab swipe some food and have it here in the room when you guys got back. I didn't think it would be for a while because of the car service. Thad said you followed me in a cab. I must have walked into the cafeteria right before you two walked past to go into the dorm building."

"I'm just glad you're okay," Sebastian said. "You looked bad in the restroom. Like you were in shock. You wouldn't let us near you."

"I'll pay you back for the cab. I'm sorry about that."

"You know my dad doesn't care about the money. Seriously. Don't worry about it."

"You know I can't do that."

"Alright. I'll let you pay me back only so you won't walk around with more guilt on your shoulders."

Kurt moved the backpacks and satchel from the extra bed to his desk and his desk chair. "Thad you first. Lie down and get close to the wall. Kurt squished in next to him. Sebastian can you fit without falling off?"

"Um. I don't think so."

"Thad, turn on your side. No. Never mind. Move the pillows to the other end of the bed, and then lie down on your side."

Thad did what Kurt said. Kurt lay down in front of him like the little spoon, but kept his legs as straight as he could. He continued to give orders.

"Now, there's more room for you. Lie down, Sebastian."

He lay down on his back. "It's a good thing we're all thin. Whey do you want us to all lie in the same bed? This works a lot better at my house." He laughed.

"I'm going to tell you what happened at the museum. But before that, again I'm sorry, Bas. I should have texted and said where I had gone. I thought I could make it back to the room before you two got back."

Thad squeezed Kurt to reassure him.

"I forgive you. Just don't do it again. You really scared both of us."

"Alright, I won't. So...the same person that assaulted me at the club grabbed me and forced into the restroom. He warned me that if he saw me out spreading my perverseness around again, that he'd finish what he started on my arm and then some. He also told me that three of the guys that vandalized the school get out of jail tomorrow. The fourth got a longer sentence because he ran into the security officer. The only reason he didn't do anything to me today was because he had taken his little cousin to the museum for her birthday and couldn't risk leaving her unattended."

"Why wouldn't you just leave the museum with us?" Thad asked.

"I told you, he warned me to stopped spreading my perverseness. I can't be seen near you in public."

"Or what?"

Kurt didn't answer.

"I was right. He threatened to hurt Thad, didn't he?" Sebastian asked.

Kurt still didn't answer.

"Why do you keep using the word 'perverseness'?" Thad asked.

"Because that's what he kept saying. The bad news is that he is no longer closeted - he's cured. He spent the summer at a conversion camp."

"Oh."

"He now has a sexy, cheerleader girlfriend he's boning to prove his heterosexuality because I guess premarital sex is a reasonable alternative to being a celibate homosexual. I'm certain that I will never understand the 'pick and choose' method of figuring out what things constitute 'sins'."

Sebastian laughed.

"I'm serious. It's not that I think that Jesus had bad ideas. Love your neighbor as you love yourself is a good idea. Don't steal, don't lie, be nice, take care of widows and orphans - all good ideas. What I can't figure out is why greed is good, even though Jesus said something about it being harder for rich people to get into heaven than it would be to fit a camel through the eye of a needle. There are some uber rich pastors of mega churches that make me wonder if they've ever read any of the stuff that Jesus is quoted as saying."

Sebastian laughed again. "What's a mega church?"

"I'll show you some time. There are actually churches that meet in football stadiums because so many people attend at once. But they teach that god wants you to have everything you've ever wanted, like a sugar daddy god."

"What?" Sebastian asked confused.

"That particular faith seems a lot like 'my sin is okay, but yours is not' rather than an actual coherent belief system. But that is neither here nor there. We weren't discussing religious belief systems. I didn't mean to offend either one of you, if I did."

"Not offended," Sebastian said. "Confused, but I'll look some things up later. My Frenchness is showing with my lack of understanding of your cultural references."

"I'm not offended either. People believe or don't believe. If believing makes people better human beings, then I'm all for it. I'd rather people believe in a god that tells them not to murder or steal than to believe in one who says to kill people that disagree with their beliefs. But I find a lot of things confusing, like you said. Premarital sex is wrong. Adultery is wrong. Divorce is wrong. Women are weaker and need protected. But if the protection comes in the form of needing to leave their abusive husband, then they shouldn't do that because their husband is their protector even if he's the one doling out the abuse."

"I'm so lost."

"Don't worry about it, Bas. It's not really the issue at hand anyway," Kurt said.

"My example is personal. Not to me, but someone here at school. His mother is abused by his father, but she can't divorce him because she will be shunned by her entire family. Divorce gets her a one way ticket to eternity in hell after she dies, but staying with her abusive husband gets her a ticket to hell on earth as long as she lives."

"Wow, that's awful," Kurt said.

"I can just hope that it got better. This person already graduated. It wasn't anyone you knew, Kurt. His plan was to help his mother get a divorce once he got a job, and he would support her until she could make it on her own. It was an arranged marriage. She was 18, he was 25 just out of law school. So, when he graduates from college, his mother will just be 40. Now, we are WAY, WAY off topic."

"So, museum restroom. I was threatened. I was warned. I can't go back out in the community because people are out to get me. And if the person I saw today, sees me again with Thad behaving as if we are a couple in anyway, he will finish what he started and Thad's next. I didn't think any of the Lima lowlife hung out in Columbus, but I was proven wrong today. We don't have long left on our membership at COSI anyway, but today was our last trip. I'll start ordering the stuff I normally shop for in stores from Amazon and just have it delivered to the school."

"Okay."

"Also, tomorrow we're all moving. I know it's still hard for you to get up the stairs, but it's safer that way. I'm going to the headmaster's office as soon as it opens and getting all assigned to new rooms. I'll try to keep us close together."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Good morning, Kurt. I'd love to say that it is a pleasure to see you, but any student who is waiting for me outside my office usually hasn't come for a pleasant chat. Come in, have a seat."

Kurt followed him in and sat down.

"What can I do for you this morning?"

"All of us on the ground floor need to move as soon as possible."

"Why?"

"Is it not enough just to tell you it's for our safety?"

"Not really. I need to know what the risk is that exists today that didn't exist yesterday or the day before."

"Well, in all honestly, the risk starts today. I'm actually disappointed that the school didn't notify me, or the police."

"What happened that the police should have told you about?"

"The three students that vandalized the school last fall are being released."

"I was unaware of this."

"Well, the police seem to be letting things slide."

"I'll let them know of my low opinion of what they think of your safety."

"Well, I was accosted in Columbus again over the weekend and threatened, not injured this time because my assailant was taking care of a family member and couldn't leave said family member alone long enough to actually assault me again. I was given a warning."

"I see."

"So, all eight of us need to move to non-ground floor rooms. And I'd suggest finding a way to close off the two entrances into the rest of the dorm wing from the ground floor. I know the stairwell entrance has been locked and unable to be entered from the outside for months now. And the alarm sounds if anyone exits through the door. But if someone broke into a ground floor room, they could easily exit the door at the end of the hall and gain access to the stairwell and the dorm rooms. And then of course the hallway from the dining area leads to the dorm area on the ground floor and the staircase to the upper floors. So, that entrance into the ground floor dorm area would have to be locked from both sides as well. Double-keyed deadbolt or something on a newly built door since it's just an arched entry way right now."

The headmaster was thinking through what Kurt was describing.

"Or honestly, at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if you ask me to leave the school and help find me a placement somewhere out of state. Maybe some alumnus works for witness protection now and would like to create a scholarship for a hardworking, gay student with a hit out on him. Maybe I should just go live in Seattle with Thad's parents and go to a boarding school there as a day student so I could pay the tuition with my college fund."

"I'd hate to lose you, Kurt. You're an asset to our school. You lead the football team farther in the championships than we had made it in years. Your first year here, you became second lead in the Warblers and you won a national title. You just got the lead in the spring musical. You lead the Warblers to a victory at Sectionals."

"And I enjoy being here. Honestly. Dalton has become my home. But endangering other people is not okay. I will stay in the building unless I am escorted by security. I won't even go on walks in the woods when it turns warm, even though that's one of my favorite things to do here. I'll order anything I need from Amazon and have it delivered or get someone else to buy it when they go out. It still might be better if I left the school despite how much I like it here."

"Let's hope not. My first item of business is to call the police department and ask why we were not informed that the vandals were being released today. Three months is a much shorter sentence than I had expected."

"I'll come back at lunch to find out if you have our new room assignments available. I'd like it if Thad and I are put in a suite with Sebastian in a double with no roommate. I know he's supposed to have a single, but unless there is a double connected to a single on the second floor, I'd like him placed in the other half of our suite. I don't feel comfortable with anyone else having access to the door that connects our room to the bathroom."

"I understand. What about the other five students?"

"I haven't spoken with them yet. I was hoping that there's room for them near us, but if there isn't we'll have to live with that. But Thad, Sebastian and I need to be on the second floor so Thad doesn't have to deal with the stairs any more than absolutely necessary." Kurt stood up to leave.

"I'll see you at lunch, Kurt."

"Thank you, sir."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt got all of the guys that were living on the first floor together at the same table for lunch. He told them about the room reassignments. All of them were disappointed.

"I've really liked living on the first floor with just the eight of us. It's been really quiet and calm. It's been a lot easier to focus than when we lived up on the third floor," Trent said. "I'm sad we have to move."

"I'm sorry Trent. I wish things were different. I really do. But those guys who busted out our windows get out of jail today. I had hoped they'd be locked up until after school got out. But I didn't get what I had hoped for."

"Alright, so where are we moving?" Jeff asked.

"Thad, Sebastian and I are moving to the second floor and the rest of you are going back to the rooms you were in before you moved down to the first floor at the beginning of the year. Those rooms have just been empty since you moved out."

"Okay."

"This way Thad will only have to take one flight of stairs, which is one too many already." Kurt refocused so he wouldn't cry.

"So, we move this afternoon?" Nick asked.

"Actually, we move during our last two periods. They're being released today at 4:00. We're to be out of the rooms completely before then. The school is placing extra guards at the entrance from the ground floor rooms into the stairwell for the next few days and nights. Tomorrow there will be a builder here to start the process of building an appropriate door for the entrance arch into the ground floor living area. It needs to match the design of the building, so it will take a few days to get it constructed. Extra guards will be positioned at the opening until it's done."

"Alright. We'll go straight to our rooms instead of heading to sixth period," David said.

"I'm sorry about all of this," Kurt said.

Jeff spoke up. "There's nothing for you to be sorry about. You're not a homophobic asshole who vandalizes schools. A lot of us have grown up protected. You lived with this every day of your life before you came here. This is a wake up call for those here in the school who have never faced homophobia in their daily lives. It makes it real. People in this school are expected to grow up and be 'movers and shakers and policy makers'. This helps people to see that what minorities face daily is real."

Richard added, "Yeah, Kurt. You may not realize it but people here look up to you. You already knew the Warblers are like rock stars in the school. And you're lead Warbler. You got MVP on the football team this year. The sports players look up to you. It took guts to keep playing with a broken arm. While we may be the only group that you really interact with personally, there aren't a lot of people here in the school who don't know who you are. Every time they walk past the new door keeping those assholes from being able to enter the dorm building to go up the stairs, they'll be reminded that there are people who hate someone they look up to just because you're gay. That door will remind them how stupid blind hatred is and how wrong discrimination is."

"I never thought about it like that. I never really thought about that many people knowing who I am."

Nick said, "You keep to yourself a lot. There's about, what, 10 people you spend time with, which is fine, but Richard's right. Pretty much everyone knows who you are. I mean, your SUV was set on fire in the school parking lot. Even if there were people who didn't like music or football in the school, after that pretty much everyone knew who you were."

"I suppose so. I still feel bad costing the school so much money. They've already had increased costs for the extra security all year and now they have to build an architecturally appropriate door for an entryway not designed to hold a door. That's got to cost a lot of money."

"I bet they get one of the alumni to cover the cost," David said. "Don't worry about it. Lots of people who attended Dalton have enough money to build a million doors like the one that will be built. They won't miss the money, and they'll get some kind of tax write-off and social recognition for their goodwill."

"Alright, you've convinced me. I'll try to stop feeling bad about it."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The school had brought in a bathroom remodeler at lunch who had added a safety bar in the shower that Kurt, Thad and Sebastian would be sharing.

That was the one thing that Kurt and Thad were going to miss the most. The ease of getting in and out of their shower and the absolute privacy they had when they were in there together.

Kurt made all of the trips up and down the stairs, while Thad put everything away. By 3:00, all of the previous ground floor inhabitants had moved their belongings to their new rooms. Kurt was exhausted from going up and down the stairs so many times, but he quickly changed back into his uniform wearing his sweater vest rather than his blazer. Thad had already switched into his vest and they headed off to rehearse _Seussical_. The opted to go to dinner right after rehearsal rather than make the trek up the stairs and then back down an hour later. The each put a piece of fruit and a single-serve peanut butter container in their pockets for later before they left to go back upstairs.

It wasn't until that evening that Kurt realized how much he was going to miss living on the ground floor when he could hear the noise coming from the second floor lounge in their wing. He was used to having the Warblers use the ground floor lounge to sing or study or both, but he had grown accustomed to the lack of raucous behavior from the lounge on the large floors. He felt worse knowing that Sebastian would be dealing with the noise for the first time.

The ground floor could only house 10 students, where as the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors could house 150 students each. The rest of the students that attended Dalton were day students, who had lockers in the classroom wing.

And now all of their closest friends were on the floor above them. They were probably missing having the ground floor lounge to use as a comfortable quiet study area too. There were study rooms available at the other end of the hall. They were quiet, but they were like classrooms. They had two- and four-person study tables with regular classroom chairs. But the most studious seniors had requested the dorm rooms near the study rooms, so none of them were available.

Kurt tried to clear his mind of feeling guilty, but he could never quite succeed. It was easy for people to tell him not to feel guilty and why he shouldn't. He could even agree with them in theory, but the practical part of actually not feeling guilty, he hadn't yet mastered.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

For the next four weeks, things were the new "normal" for Kurt, Thad, and Sebastian. They'd learned to cope with the louder living environment and they added extra travel time to get to class, meals and anything that required them to use the stairs.

Carole had been to visit and brought a care basket for the three of them to share. They spent the afternoon in the Warblers lounge talking and play a few card games.

By the end of the second full week in February, they had rehearsed _Seussical_ completely off book for two weeks and were ready to perform. Each of the main characters had underclassmen as their understudies, who mostly played background parts in the actual production.

The final night of rehearsals before their five weekday runs of the show at local elementary schools was longer so that the understudies could do a complete run-through of the show performing the lead parts.

During the rehearsal, Kurt made notes for fine tuning some last minute costume issues. The costuming for the show was kept to a minimum, and mostly consisted of sweat suits and sweat pants/t-shirts combos that had been painted and decorated, saving the need to take things like suit coats, ties, belts, etc. with them to the schools. Viewing the show from the audience gave Kurt a good perspective to make any last minute changes.

The most surprising thing about the rehearsal was that Blaine showed up. He sat down next to Kurt like it was the most natural thing in the world to do, like he'd been doing it every rehearsal. Thad was sitting to Kurt's other side and leaned forward and acknowledged Blaine's presence with a small wave. Sebastian returned from the restroom to find Blaine sitting in his seat. He decided to sit next to him rather than ask him to move.

When the rehearsal finished, Blaine started talking immediately. "That was really good, but I bet it's a lot better with you three and the other real leads."

"We rehearsed first before you got here, but our understudies did a good job. If you want to see us, you'll have to come back a week from Sunday. That's when the actual performance is."

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to come see how everyone was. I should visit more often. Finn was talking about the performance in Glee, so I figured there would be rehearsals after class, so I thought maybe I could catch a preview and then go to dinner with some of the Warblers."

"Well, you're free to invite people out or buy a ticket to eat in the cafeteria. I'm sure you remember that," Thad said.

"Sure, sure. I think going out would be more fun. I'm going to go see who all might be interested." He got up to head to the stage to talk to the rest of the group. Not everyone in the musical was a Warbler, but a large portion of the group was. Not everyone in the show had to be a strong singer like the lead roles.

Once he had walked away, Thad said, "He's so weird. He doesn't visit for, what, four months and then he walks in and sits down like he still goes to school here."

"I'll stick around and go out with the group," Sebastian said. "I'll be careful, but I don't think anyone is particularly looking for me right now."

"Okay. We'll see you later, then," Thad said as he took Kurt's hand and they headed off to the cafeteria to eat.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Let's head to the library to get the books we need for that history paper. That way we can get started whenever we get up tomorrow and we'll beat everyone else and get first pick of the books."

"Good idea." Thad grabbed his bag and took Kurt's hand and they left the cafeteria and headed to the library.

They looked around together and then separately and gathered quite a few potential books and piled them on a two-person study table.

"Let's look through them here for a while. That way I won't have to carry so many of them back to our room. We can weed out the ones that look good, but turn out to be useless."

They spent the next two hours skimming through the books, marking the useful sections with post-it page markers. They returned the books they didn't need to a reshelve cart and took the ones they wanted to the desk to check them out.

They went back to the dorm wing, but they stopped at Sebastian's room before going to their own. He opened the door and let them in.

"So, what did the hair gel king want?" Thad asked as he got himself comfortable on the extra bed in the room. Kurt sat next to him once he was comfortable.

Sebastian sat on his own bed facing them. "It was truly bizarre. He asked me to ride with him to the restaurant. He rambled on about a bunch of stuff he asked me not to tell anyone. But he also told me that the New Directions are doing Michael Jackson songs for Regionals and that the two groups have rejoined."

"Well, that will make beating them really hard," Kurt said. "We've seen their Sectionals performance of MJ songs. They killed it."

"I didn't think they'd do the same thing again," Thad said.

"Well, I think we have a better chance winning the a cappella competition anyway. All of the big skirts and popular songs that girls can pull off make it hard for an all boys a cappella group to win," Kurt pointed out. "Even if New Directions doesn't beat us, another group like Vocal Adrenaline probably will. They're amazing. They have so much support, they get whatever they want. Sophomore year, we found out that all of the ones that were old enough to drive had been given Range Rovers by their booster club. Crazy."

Sebastian agreed with him. "That is nuts. The other really unusual thing I learned is that he and Rachel applied to NYADA and they both got callbacks. I thought you guys said that he was a junior this year."

"He is. Dalton has higher graduation requirements than the state of Ohio though. It was only because I had never taken a study hall at McKinley that I wasn't behind on credits. Dalton requires 50 credits to graduate, two of which are PE graded pass/fail. The state of Ohio only requires 42."

Kurt sat for a minute calculating.

"If he took seven classes each semester here at Dalton and if he took two classes in summer school and he's taking six classes now, which is the most he can take at McKinley, he could have exactly 42 at the end of this year."

"He must have taken a science class and math class over the summer," Thad said.

"Not necessarily. The state only requires three years of math and science, not four like Dalton does. He only has to have four years of English. So, he either took one over the summer or he's taking two English classes this year. But with the curriculum at McKinley being so much easier, I doubt he's having a hard time at all. With all of the academic classes he took here, he'd just have a math class, a science class, US History, a semester of Government, a semester of another social studies elective, and the two English classes for requirements left. Plus, an elective and Glee. Not a hard schedule really."

"So, he got a callback for NYADA. Good for him. He likes to perform," Thad said.

"And Rachel's all about performing," Kurt added.

"Did he mostly come to brag?" Thad asked.

"I think so. He had heard Finn talking about _Seussical_ and how you had gotten the lead. So, I think it gave him an excuse to come over and brag about getting a callback for NYADA and graduating early, it seems," Sebastian said. "I guess he managed to get a pass to spend time in the dorm. He's up on the third floor hanging out with the rest of the guys that he knew from last year. I wasn't interested in joining the Blaine fanboys, so I came back here when we got back. As you can see I already showered, so feel free to use the bathroom whenever."

"Probably soon. We both have a big history paper to write. We went to the library after we ate. We haven't been back to our room yet today."

"I'm going to try to get as much of my work for next week done this weekend as possible. We have the performances every day next week, making us miss sixth period every day. And when we get back, I have lacrosse practice at 3:30 every day starting on Tuesday. The coach knows I might be late, depending on when we get back from the performances. I want to make a good impression so I'm actually hoping we aren't late at all, but I let him know just in case. I'm going to change on the bus, so as soon as we get here I can head straight to the gym. We're training indoors for two weeks, mostly conditioning stuff. After spring break, we'll train outside, have tryouts and then actually start to play."

"When's your first game?" Thad asked.

"The first official game isn't until March 21st, but we have two scrimmages before then." Sebastian checked his phone calendar. "The week we come back from spring break is the first one, the 16th," "the one the following Monday, the 19th."

"Well, we'll definitely come watch you play," Kurt said enthusiastically. "We'll cheer you on from the stands. Dalton really needs cheerleaders."

"Well, you can start a volunteer squad if you want. You could probably get Jeff to join you. Maybe David. They can both do flips," Thad said. "Oh, and Michael too. I saw him showing off after dance practice one day after we started having the guys who were good dancers come back to the dance class to start learning our competition choreography."

"Hmm. Sounds fun, but the girls in short skirts are what attract most guys and get them up on their feet."

"Well, guys in spandex shorts might get more of the students excited than you realize," Sebastian suggested as he winked at Kurt.

"Well, YOU'D like that, but I'm not sure how many other guys would."

"You never know," Sebastian continued teasingly.

"If some of the Crawford girls joined, I'd go for it. We'd need at least as many girls as guys."

"Not likely. They already have a cheer squad and they cheer for their own teams. I doubt they could fit any of our sports teams games into their schedules," Thad said.

"That's a shame," Sebastian said.

"If you want to watch guys in skimpy clothes, you should have gone to the swim meets."

"Who says I didn't?" Sebastian laughed.

"I'm sure there are other gay guys here that you could ask out," Kurt suggested.

"Not interested."

"In dating?"

"In dating someone here."

"Oh."

"Before I came to my senses and realized that I would actually like to date someone, you helped me figure out a way graduate this year so I could go back to France for college at the end of this year. So, later, after I realized that I would actually like to date, I decided against it for now because I don't want to get involved and then leave the country a few months later. That's just a recipe for being miserable and hurting someone else. When we move after school gets out, I'll consider dating then."

"That makes sense," Kurt said.

"You two are actually what made me decide that dating might be nice."

"Really?"

"Yeah, because you two have been able to keep your friendship really strong and keep the romance going. All I'd ever really seen before was teen relationships burn bright and die and the two people ended up despising each other or completely ignoring each other's existence. And you two are the first serious couple that I've ever met that doesn't make everyone around them want to gag or feel like they aren't wanted. I've been around couples who are all over each other when there are other people around far too many times and then the other type are the ones who only talk to each other or have so many inside jokes that the alienate everyone who is around."

"I've seen the 'crash and burn' a lot of times. Cheating, boyfriend stealing, more cheating. And I've definitely been in the presence of far too much PDA to be in public. That goes on in the halls at McKinley all the time."

"I've gone to school here since I was old enough to be interested in dating," Thad said. "I think just because it's an all-boys school and the rest of the boys don't have the opportunity to be around their girlfriends all the time, the boys who do date each other here are not big into PDA, but it could also be the fact that some kids' parents are secretly homophobic and they don't want their parents to find out that they're gay, so they keep their dating private."

Kurt said, "To be perfectly honest, that's what I've wondered about Nick and Jeff. They're always together. They've been roommates the last two years, maybe longer since I wasn't here before to know. I would never ask because they would have told us by now if they wanted us to know. But I've wondered if one or both of them have secretly or not-so-secretly homophobic parents. They may just be best friends who've known each other since birth. But if they are together, they've kept it completely to themselves. If they aren't dating, I am sure you're right that there are guys here who are, but who are completely keeping it hidden."

"They're in AP French with you, right Thad?" Sebastian asked.

"Yes, why?"

"We could invite them to come stay with us this summer. Their parents have the money. It would be fun," Sebastian answered.

"Ooh. It would be. Let's invite them. I'll go upstairs and get them," Kurt said and hopped up.

"They won't tell anyone. And they don't know your dad anyway. So, sure," Sebastian said.

Kurt left to go find them.

"What else went on at dinner besides Blaine bragging?"

"Not much really. The Warblers that went are really big fanboys, so they seemed quite content to listen to him regale them with his tales of superiority. How he's the lead, how he helps with the choreography, how he and Rachel are perfect together as the leads. It was all a bit over the top for me and seemed as if he were trying to convince himself as much as he was everyone else. Like maybe is not all roses like he makes it out to be, but he would never admit to it, so he tells tales of wonder and joy to his fanboys."

"Well, it's not common knowledge, but it's not a secret, Blaine's dad was not pleased when he came out as gay. So, I'm sure that declaring that he was bi and dating Rachel made his family life easier in some way."

"Well, I have a hard time liking him because of what you said he did to Kurt. Kurt would have never been secure in a relationship with him because he's too into himself to put enough effort into a relationship. It would have been the Blaine show 24/7 with Kurt as his trophy 'wife'. If I had said to Kurt about Blaine what I said about you, he would have been a nervous wreck, working double time to do whatever it took to keep Blaine's attention while I was trying to distract him."

"What are you talking about?"

"Back at the beginning of the school year, I was a total jerk to Kurt."

"Yeah, he said so."

"Obviously, he didn't tell you in what way."

"Calling him girly names, being annoying."

"Well, that's true, but what I did beyond that was challenge him. I was flirting with you openly when he was singing facing us. I straight up told him that I would have you by Christmas."

"What?"

"It's true. I was mad. I didn't want to be here. I decided he was a good target and you're good looking. Not my finer moment. But I'll own up to my mistakes and bad choices. It was the wrong thing to do, but I did do it."

"What did he do?"

"Pretty much laughed at me and said 'Go for it.' He said you had free will and if you wanted to choose me over him that you could. But he said it in a way that absolutely indicated that he knew I had NO chance, but that he wasn't even going to attempt to fight me for you. Like he knew that he didn't HAVE to do anything to win. He was absolutely calm, completely unruffled at my challenge."

"Well, he was right. I'd never give him up willingly."

"But I can pretty much guarantee that if it had been Blaine he had been dating and I had done the same thing, he would have floundered and attempted to do anything in his power to keep him. He would have been terrified of losing him because Blaine is all about himself and he would have never given Kurt the unconditional love and acceptance that you have."

"He is definitely self-focused."

"Kurt was damaged when he came here. Your love healed him. You'd been together almost six months when I auditioned. From what you said, Blaine had been leading Kurt on for about five months when he started dating Rachel. So, in the five months they were friends, all Blaine did was lead him on. His supposed friendship didn't heal Kurt in any way. He isolated Kurt from the other Warblers. It wasn't until you reached out that he got to know the other Warblers. You brought friendship and love into his life."

"I never really thought about it that way. He brought joy into my life. He sees beauty in things that other people overlook, including myself until he started pointing things out."

"Blaine totally eats up attention. When he came back in the fall to give us the tickets to _West Side Story_ , he had coffee with me alone and completely ate up the flirty attention I paid to him. He may really like Rachel, who am I to say differently, but I'm pretty sure that he was torn. If I had asked him out, I'm pretty sure he would have given me some lame reason why we couldn't actually date, but he would have gone out with me again. Like those non-date dates you said he went on with Kurt. He likes the attention."

"Why did you have coffee with him?

"I wanted to see what the big deal was. Why are the Warblers who knew him such fanboys? I wanted to know. I didn't figure that out, but I figured out that he loves attention and I would have used it to my advantage. I would have played him like a fiddle. And I would have made Kurt's life miserable, but I'm not an angry jackass anymore."

"I'm glad. You're a good friend. He loves you. I can't imagine you being awful to him now."

"I couldn't."

Kurt knocked and opened the door at the same time. "I finally found them."

Nick and Jeff followed Kurt in. Kurt sat back down by Thad. Nick and Jeff pulled out the two desk chairs, turned them around and sat down in them.

"So, what's up?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah, Kurt dragged us down here like the president was down here wanting to meet us," Nick said.

Thad laughed. He knew how undeterred Kurt could be when he was enthusiastic about something.

"What are you two doing this summer after graduation?" Sebastian asked.

Jeff answered first. "Well, I'm not sure."

"I'm thinking of starting college classes so I don't have spend the summer at home or with my family," Nick said.

"How about coming to France and staying with me?" Sebastian asked, allowing Kurt and Thad to appear to be other invited guests.

"Really?" Nick asked.

"I wouldn't have let Kurt drag you down here just to tease you. Of course, really. You're both in AP French. I have to believe that you can actually SPEAK French."

" _Of course_ ," Jeff answered.

" _Definitely._ "

"You're both already 18. So, leaving the country shouldn't be a problem. And if you don't already have passports, you have time to get one. Dates shouldn't be an issue. How long you stay is up to you. Only thing is there is one bed that you'll have to share or one of you will have to sleep with me because it's my place and I'm not sleeping on the floor," he laughed. "There's a couch and a bed and three of us. I don't care who sleeps where."

"What about Kurt and Thad? Aren't they coming?"

"Of course, but I'm not willing to fight one of them for a spot in the other bed," Sebastian laughed harder. "Are you?"

Kurt put on his "don't even think about it" face.

"I see your point," Nick laughed too. "We'll share the bed. We've done it plenty of times, like last year in New York. You weren't here then. The four of us shared a hotel room."

"I'll tell my parents I'm going to France. I get my trust fund when I graduate from high school. They can't stop me from going," Jeff said.

"Jeff and I can work out the dates and let you know. So, any time in June, July or August and you really don't care how long we stay? Like we could spend 10 weeks there with you?"

"Sure," Sebastian said. "You'll have to cover your part of the groceries though. I can't spring for feeding the two of you all summer. I didn't get my trust fund when I turned 18. I have to get married or graduate from college, whichever comes first."

"I see," Nick said. "Is gay marriage legal in France?"

"Nope. So, it's finishing college or France changing the laws and me finding someone willing to marry me, whichever comes first."

"I get my trust fund when I graduate. I already completed the other requirements for getting it. I won't get any other financial help though, so I need to plan carefully. I was dreading the summer, but this will be cool."

" _Definitely_ ," Jeff agreed and laughed.

"We need you to keep quiet about the fact that Kurt will be there - and I guess Thad too by default since he's always with Kurt," Sebastian said. "Unless he changes his mind before then, Kurt isn't telling anyone where he's going when he graduates. He's just going to vanish. Hopefully that will keep his haters from harassing him anymore. Obviously his own family doesn't keep things quiet - the proof being that Blaine showed up here after hearing his stepbrother talk about Kurt being the lead in the musical. I mean it's kind of sweet that he was bragging about Kurt, but now everyone who was within earshot knows something that Kurt is doing."

"Got it. We won't say a word about who we're staying with or who else is going. If people ask though, I think it's okay to say we're going to France. I mean half the guys that go to school here go to Europe for part or all of the summer. It's not like that would attract anyone's attention."

"That's true," Kurt said. "It will actually attract less attention than deflecting the question or lying. Everyone expects me to be secretive, but not the two of you." That's fine."

"We'll leave now and go look up flights and find the best deals and get tickets as soon as we convince our parents to pay for them. The longer we wait, the more the prices go up," Nick said. "We'll give you the dates as soon as we know. Thanks for inviting us." The two of them got up and left.

"Well, that will be fun." Kurt and Thad got up as well. "We'll leave you to get started on your schoolwork or to go to bed so you can get up early and get started. We'll see you tomorrow."


	19. Chapter 19

Kurt and Thad woke up early the next morning to get started on their papers. They had planned on heading down to breakfast like it was a regular school day and then staying in their room until lunchtime gathering all of the information they'd need from the books and approved websites.

Kurt was the first out of bed, as always, because Thad had to get his brace on to be able to walk. Kurt walked over to the closet to get his uniform out, but he nearly stepped on a full-sized manila document envelope with his name on the front. He leaned over to pick it up.

"What's that?"

"I don't know. It wasn't on the floor when we came in last night or one of us would have seen it or stepped on it." Kurt walked over to his desk, sat down and pulled a pair of scissors out of his drawer and cut a sliver of the top off so he wouldn't accidentally cut whatever was inside. He pulled the paper out of the envelope and when he saw what it was he dropped it and jumped back like he'd be electrocuted.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't touch it. Just leave it. Get dressed. Now, please." He was crying.

Thad moved as quickly as possible and put his uniform on. Kurt got dressed at the same time. As soon as they both had their clothes on, Kurt took Thad's hand and pulled him to the door and they left the room.

"Kurt?"

"Just come with me, please."

"Always."

They made their way down the stairs carefully. Kurt and Thad went through the dorm building door into the hall and Kurt stopped immediately to talk to the security guard.

"I need to speak to your supervisor or the headmaster as soon as possible, like now," Kurt said very calmly but adamantly.

"Alright." The security guard called for his supervisor to come to his location.

A few minutes later, the supervisor arrived. "What happened?"

"Follow us. You'll need something to collect evidence in."

"Okay. I have gloves. Is that enough?"

"Probably. Follow us." Kurt led the security officer to their room and unlocked the door to go inside.

The security guard pulled out his phone to take a photo of the room with the door open with the room number visible. He pressed the video button and narrated what he was doing.

"It's there on the desk. There's a manila envelope and a single sheet of paper that was inside. One or both might be on the floor because I freaked out when I saw what was on it the paper. But I didn't touch them again."

"Okay." The security officer put the gloves he had on and went to Kurt's desk to pick up the paper and the envelope. "Let's go down to the headmaster's office. He should be here soon, if he's not already here." He turned the video recording off at that point.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They waited for the headmaster to arrive.

"Kurt, Thad, Officer Mellino, please come in," he said as he unlocked his office.

Everyone sat down except Officer Mellino, who still held the envelope and paper. After Headmaster Carlson was seated, Officer Mellino placed the paper and envelope on his desk. "Don't touch them," he cautioned.

"Of course not," the headmaster replied. "So, explain this to me, please."

"The envelope was on the floor in our room near our door this morning. I picked it up, used scissors to open it, read what the paper said, freaked out, dropped it, and went to seek a security officer. The one at the entrance to the dorm building called for Officer Mellino to come. He video recorded collecting it from our room and came with us to meet you."

"I see. So, somehow someone managed to get a threatening letter in an envelope to you in your dorm room."

"Exactly."

"Officer Mellino, did anyone call out sick? Were any of the entrances to the dorm building left unattended at all last night?"

"Not that I am aware of. I will interview each officer when I leave this room. My shift started at 6:00am. No one on this shift is missing or was late. I will have to talk to the officers working the shift that ended at 6:00."

"Well, you go do that. I'll talk to these two after I call the police."

"I'm calling Art," Kurt said. "If the police are coming, they'll want to interview me."

Kurt dialed Art's number.

"Hello? Kurt? It's 7:00 in the morning."

"I know. I'm sorry. I need you to come to the school. The police are on their way. I'm not hurt, but I need you to come because you know they'll try to bully me again."

"Alright. I'll be there in 45 minutes."

"Thanks."

"Anytime. I'll be there soon. Hang in there."

Kurt disconnected. Headmaster Carlson had finished with the police as well.

"They're on their way."

"So is Mr. Smythe."

"You two need to go grab your breakfast that you were obviously on your way to get. Bring it back here to eat. If anyone tries to stop you from bringing the trays of food out, tell them to call me."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt took very little, but he and Thad had finished eating by the time the Art had gotten there. Kurt ran the tray back to the cafeteria and returned quickly.

"Headmaster Carlson."

"Mr. Smythe."

They shook hands. The four of them left and went to the small conference room to meet the police officers. The police had already bagged the evidence and had taken it with them. The four took seats across the conference table from the two police officers.

"I'm Officer Cortzen. This is Officer Eller."

"Kurt Hummel," Kurt responded.

"So, Mr. Hummel, this envelope and the paper were on the floor in your room when you woke up and you're sure it wasn't there last night?" Officer Cortzen asked.

"Yes," Kurt answered. "With where it was, one of us would have seen it or stepped on it."

"Please tell us what this refers to - 'You were warned.'"

"Someone accosted me in public again and warned me not to leave the school."

"When was this?"

"Four weeks ago tomorrow."

"And you didn't report this individual?"

"I told Headmaster Carlson."

"But you didn't report it to the police?" This time it was Officer Eller asking questions.

"No."

"Why not?"

Kurt looked at Art, who shook his head.

"I'm not going to answer that. I do not have to file charges if I choose not to. It was a personal threat."

"All right. Why were the police called this morning, then?"

"The school is required to contact the police when there's been a security breach. None of our security guards left their posts during the night."

"Fine. So, you've called because you had to. What is it that you want us to do? Everyone knows it's nearly impossible to get usable fingerprints off of paper. Plus, this is a small town. We don't have the resources to run fingerprints on vague threats. If Mr. Hummel wants to file charges against the individual who threatened him, who is more than likely either the culprit that breached your security or at least knows the people who did, then we can work to bring that person to justice. But without security cameras with identifiable images showing that this person put the envelope under your door, there is very little we can do. The person hasn't done anything that you're willing to files charges against him for. Our hands are tied."

Headmaster Carlson asked, "Can Kurt file charges against the newspaper for printing his photo and his name in the paper?"

Art cut in and answered before the police officers could say anything. "I'm going to walk around the table and look at the newspaper clipping. I won't touch it." He read the article.

"No. Not unless that photo belongs to the school in some way. If a representative of the school took that photo and then newspaper used the photo without a signed release of the photographer or the school, then the school or the photographer could try to sue the newspaper for unauthorized use of a copyrighted photo. If someone from the newspaper took that photo, Mr. Hummel has no recourse. It wasn't used for publicity. It was an Op/Ed news piece, a positive one, but that doesn't make it publicity. It wasn't run as a paid advertisement."

Kurt spoke up. "Given the background and the outfit I'm wearing, that photo was taken in the last week while we were doing dress rehearsals. When is the article from?"

Officer Cortzen looked. "Monday."

"Okay, then the photo had to have been taken last Friday at rehearsal. Before that we were just rehearsing in our uniforms. But no one has been in the rehearsals except people in the musical. So one of the students took the photo."

"Well, then that's your only recourse," Art said. "You can figure out who took the photo and see if they signed a release to the newspaper. If they did, you're out of luck."

Kurt said nothing.

"Well, if you want to keep better tabs on what's going on outside Mr. Hummel's room, we'd suggest you station a security officer outside his door or install a security camera. Otherwise, nothing is missing, and nothing was vandalized. Mr. Hummel is refusing to press charges. There's nothing left for us to do. We will file this evidence with our report from this visit. If Mr. Hummel changes his mind and wants to file charges for something, such as harassment or a restraining order, the evidence can be used for that a later date." The two officers got up and left the room.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I'm not going to file charges against the newspaper for printing the picture whether they had a release for it or not. My guess is that someone in the musical has a family friend that works for the newspaper and took the photo because they were asked to. I'm sure it wasn't one of the Warblers that I'm close to. I'm sure that whoever it was thought that free publicity for the school would be a good idea."

"Probably true," Headmaster Carlson agreed.

"Only three people know that I was recently accosted again - Sebastian, Thad, and you, Headmaster."

"I knew," Art said. "Sebastian told me. He was really upset when the car service didn't have anyone available to pick the two of them up and they had to take a taxi back to the school."

Kurt changed the subject. "Headmaster Carlson, I will be contacting Mr. Browning via email letting him know that I will not be able to perform my role at the elementary schools this coming week. But you might want to call him since I don't know whether he checks his school emails over the weekend. It would be him or you that will need to contact my understudy letting him know that he's going to be performing all week."

"You're quitting?" Thad asked.

"Of course. The performance at the school on Sunday should still be okay for me to perform in since technically I don't have to leave the school grounds to be in it. The trick is that it is a public performance, which means that you can't keep the people who hate me out. Never mind. I just quit period. I don't want to sound rude, but could I please speak to my attorney in private?"

"Sure, Kurt," Headmaster Carlson answered. He stood up, left the room, and closed the door behind him.

"My stepbrother is the weak link. He's the one that was telling people that I got the lead in the musical. I will tell you with 99% certainty that he did not do it to hurt me. He just doesn't think before he speaks. He outed someone last fall in the hallway at school and was overheard causing that student to be publicly outed in a TV ad for one of my dad's opponents. A McKinley student is a relative of his and overheard Finn saying something publicly about Santana's sexuality. I'm sure you saw the ads on TV. Her getting outed was Finn's fault. He didn't think about what he was saying. I'm certain that my Navigator getting set on fire was because of something he said. I told him not to say anything to anyone about what he was doing, but I know for certain he told one person that he was running errands for his mom. So, he made up a lie to one person. Saying something to anyone is not the same as keeping quiet. My assumption is that at some point during the day he said something identifiable about where he was going or somehow gave the impression that he was meeting me."

Art nodded and let Kurt keep talking.

"This is why my dad can't know that I'm going to France. I'm just going to have to disappear. Maybe you can help me write up something that you can give him after I'm gone. I'll tell Carole I changed my plans, so that Dad won't be able to get any information out of her."

"That seems really drastic, but after what you've been through this morning, I can't say that I'm surprised. The problem is that Ellen and Donovan already know as well and they're all coming to stay at my place for the weekend. It was supposed to be a great family event. I don't know what to do."

"I guess I'll be sick next weekend and have to stay at the school. Unless you know of a way to sneak me out of here that is absolutely fool proof, I'll be here all weekend. Maybe I'll fake laryngitis all week and then claim strep throat over the weekend."

"I can't condone lying, but I would understand your motivation," Art said. "I'll abide by whatever you ask. If you ask me not to talk about your summer and future plans, I will avoid answering questions."

"I'll let you know after I have more time to think. Everything is on the line. I have a lot of things to consider. What about Regionals? Those will be here in Ohio. Unless we host them here, I'll have to leave the school to participate. If we host them here, anyone who wants to take a shot at me can get in the building and take it, since the competition is open to the public. I have to go think. Thank you for coming."

"Any time, Kurt. I'm glad you called me. I wouldn't want you to face this alone and I know your dad is in DC most of the time now. And from what you've said, you don't want him to know most of this because somehow it keeps getting back to people in Lima."

"Right." Kurt got up and stood in the doorway, letting Thad walk out a head of him. "Thanks again. At this rate, I'll owe you my whole first year's salary once I get a job again. I'll pay you back. I will." Kurt left the room before Art could respond. Thad walked beside him. Kurt took his hand and they walked back to their room together.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

As they were going up, Sebastian was coming down.

"My dad just texted me that he's here and wants to take me to brunch."

"Yeah, he's here. The police questioned me again. I called him. I'm sure he's hungry. I got him out of bed at 7:00."

"Okay? Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Not in the stairwell."

"Does this have to do with COSI?"

"Yes."

"I'll see you when I get back." Sebastian descended the stairs quickly.

Kurt and Thad continued on to their room.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

As soon as they were in their room, Kurt locked the door, hung his clothes over his desk chair and climbed into bed. Thad undressed too. Kurt got up and let Thad in the bed and lay back down. Kurt turned his back to Thad, but scooted back so they were touching. Thad turned on his side and gently pulled Kurt even closer. Thad wrapped his arm around Kurt and interlaced their hands. He started placing small gentle kisses on Kurt's neck. Kurt responded positively and scooted back even tighter.

"I love you. I have absolutely no idea how to make any of this better or fix any of it. But I want you to know that I will stay with you. I won't leave. I won't leave you here alone. The musical was only important to me because you were in it."

"But your parents will actually be here to see you in it this weekend."

"I'll see about being able to perform in the weekend show only."

"You've worked really hard. You should get to be in it all week."

"So, should you."

Kurt shrugged. He grabbed his phone off his desk and he typed a text message to Sebastian without Thad seeing what it said.

"I asked Sebastian to grab something I needed."

"Oh, okay."

Kurt turned over and started kissing Thad, who joined in quite happily. "We could take another shower while he's gone."

"In the shower, can we...?"

"Anything you want."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

As Kurt expected, Thad's ideas for the shower were quite pleasant but somewhat tiring and they cuddled up for a naked nap afterwards. About an hour later, there was a knock at their door. Kurt got up and went to the door.

"Just a minute. I'll be over to get it in a few minutes."

"Alright." he heard Sebastian say.

"I have a surprise for you, but I need you to put these in and then listen to some music with your eyes shut until I tell you I'm ready." Kurt opened the dresser and pulled out pajamas for both of them. He put his on and handed Thad's to him.

"Okay."

"I'll be right back, but listen to something and keep your eyes closed, please."

"Sure."

Kurt went next door, grabbed the flowers, the food and the chocolate bars. He promised to pay Sebastian and he thanked him profusely. Sebastian just laughed and nodded his head. Kurt took the items back into his room. He sat them down on the dresser and pulled out their extra blanket and put it on the floor. He got his bed tray and set it up and put the food on it. He put the flowers on the tray in a small vase he had. He carefully walked around the tray and said Thad's name just loud enough for him to hear without making him jump. Thad pulled the earbuds out, but didn't open his eyes.

"Can I open my eyes?"

"Yes, but sit up first."

Thad sat up and opened his eyes. "We're having an indoor picnic. I love those. And you got me flowers. Thank you."

Kurt leaned over and kissed him. "You're welcome. I'm going to help you down to the floor without you putting your brace on, so you'll be more comfortable while we eat."

Thad got situated. They opened the containers of Indian food and ate. Once they had finished. Kurt said, "Wait there. I'll be right back." He grabbed the empty containers, rinsed them and tossed them in the trash. He put the flowers on their dresser where they could both see them and he put the tray away. He sat back down on the floor, but on his knees this time instead of on his butt.

He reached out for Thad, who offered his hand to Kurt. "Thad Allen Harwood, will you marry me?"

"Yes! Of course!"

Kurt leaned forward and kissed him.

Kurt helped him back up onto the bed. He propped the pillows up against the headboard. They both slid back against them.

"I've been planning. I want to elope. Just the two of us and Sebastian as our witness. We can get married in New York. There's a 24-hour waiting period. So, I want to leave the Friday night of spring break. We'll go to New York and stay overnight. I found a place four hours from here. We'll go to the courthouse Saturday morning as soon as it opens. We'll get a marriage license. We'll drive from there to Niagara Falls, which is just an hour and a half from the town we'll stay in. We'll spend the night in Buffalo and then get married at the courthouse in Buffalo Monday morning. Sebastian will fly from Buffalo back to Columbus and we'll fly to Florida for spring break."

"You have been busy planning."

"Of course. I wouldn't ask you if I weren't serious."

"That's in two weeks. You want to get married in two weeks?"

"Well, my original plan was to go after we graduated, but I don't want to wait. Nothing will change for us at the school because the state of Ohio doesn't recognize same sex marriages from other states as legal. So, we can still live here on campus."

"Okay."

"Really? You'll elope with me in two weeks?"

"I will." Thad kissed him. "I love you."

"I love you too, so much. Will your parents be upset?"

"No. They never did answer you over Christmas did they? When you asked them how long they'd been together and how they met?"

"Well, they said they'd been married 25 years and together for 27. You're 18. So, I figured they'd gotten married young since they waited seven years to have you."

"Ask them again when you see them. The story will be much better if my mom tells it."

"Okay."

"So, we need to rent a car to drive from here to Niagara Falls. I bet Art can find a way to get us one. Maybe even a car service? I have no idea on the cost. We can research and figure it out."

"You really want to do this? I don't want you to feel pressured in any way."

"I absolutely don't feel pressured. I feel really happy and excited."

"Do you want to see my other idea? It's just an idea."

"Of course."

Kurt got up and pulled out a drawing pad. There was a small drawing about 1/2 inch in height and about 1 1/2 inches across. When Thad first looked at it, he thought it was just a scrollwork design between two lines, but then when Kurt handed him the drawing pad, he realize that the center wasn't just scrollwork, it was letters in a scrollwork style. They spelled "TOUJOURS".

"That's really beautiful."

"I want to get it tattooed on our ring fingers. As much as I like the ring because it reminds me of you, sometimes I wish I could take it off without taking it off. I don't want to be without it, but there are some things that would be more comfortable to do with it off. Wearing a wedding ring would be the same. We could still get wedding bands that are slightly wider than the tattoos, if we wanted to wear rings sometimes. I'm going to get the musical tattoo when we go to Florida for spring break. I was thinking of having the ring finger tattoos done at the same time after we get there on Monday."

"I'm going to get the guitar tattoo, but on my other arm. The scar has healed to where it is barely visible. It's just a single neat line that's pretty much faded already. If I keep putting that scar cream on it, I think it will be completely unnoticeable in a few months. I don't want to put the tattoo there though because there is always the chance I will need something replaced, even though I hope not. I'd rather put the guitar tattoo someplace less likely for it to get messed up down the road."

"Really? I wasn't sure that you'd like the ring idea, much less go ahead and get a larger tattoo on your arm."

"I really do like that drawing. It completely reminds me of us. And I think the drawing you've done for the ring tattoos is really cool. From a distance it will just look like a scrollwork ring pattern, but up close you can see the writing."

"That's exactly how I wanted it to be."

"Does Sebastian know?"

"Know that I asked you today or that I wanted to ask you?"

"Both."

"He knows I was planning to ask you at some point. He doesn't know that I asked you today. Put your leg brace on if you want us to go tell him."

"In a little bit. First let's just snuggle." Thad slid down in the bed.

Kurt laid the drawing pad on the desk and lay down. Thad had taken his shirt back off and had his arm extended for Kurt to lay his head on his chest. Kurt slipped his shirt off and climbed into bed. Thad wrapped his arm around Kurt and they got comfortable. Kurt started tracing patterns on Thad's chest.

"Mmm. That kind of tickles, in a really good way."

Kurt maneuvered himself up onto his hands and knees hovering over Thad, kissing him. Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt and pulled him down on top of him, continuing the kissing.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

About an hour later, Kurt got a phone call.

"Hello?"

"Yes, Headmaster Carlson. I'll be down as soon as I can." He disconnected.

"I've been summoned to the headmaster's office." He got up and dressed in his uniform, including his blazer as quickly as he could. He gave Thad a quick kiss and headed down to the office area.

He knocked on the headmaster's door.

"Come in, Kurt."

He opened the door and stepped inside. He was surprised to find Art was still at the school.

"Please have a seat, Kurt." He sat down.

Art spoke next. "We did some interviewing of students and realized that school regulations were violated last night and we've spoken to all of those involved and they were all given warnings. Another violation will earn them a one-week suspension from their classes."

"I'm not sure what you are referring to," Kurt responded.

"Blaine Anderson was in the dorm wing last night."

"Yes, I know. Is that the violation? Did he not have permission to be in the dorm building?"

"No, he did not. He did acquire a pass to be in the main building yesterday afternoon. He said that he wanted to visit with the Warblers and he was given a pass. From what we have learned, he went from the office to the Warblers music room where a few of the Warblers that aren't in the musical were doing schoolwork. He found out from them that the musical rehearsal was in the auditorium."

"Yes, he came into the auditorium about 5:00, just in time to see the second half of our extended rehearsal. He went up on stage afterward and talked to the Warblers he was friends with last year. He was working on getting them all to go out to dinner when Thad and I left. I don't know what happened after that point."

"They went out. When they came back, they let him into the dorm wing with them."

"Okay."

Headmaster Carlson said, "I called him today and reminded him that non-boarding students are not allowed in the dorm building without a pass and non-students aren't allowed in the dorm building without express permission from me, which I pointed out that he did not have. I told him that if he ever entered the dorm building without express permission from me again that the school would charge him with trespassing."

"Wow."

"Well, the warning was given after I made him give me a detailed account of his whereabouts during his entire visit."

"I see."

"He is the one that put the envelope under your door."

"What?"

"He said he thought it was from your stepbrother. He found it in his locker on Friday after he had mentioned to the Glee club that he was headed to Dalton."

"I see. So he found a manila folder in his locker with my first and last name written on it neatly and he assumed that my stepbrother put it in there? Finn has sloppy handwriting. Plus, he would never write my LAST name on anything he was going to give to me. And on top of that, he would never find someone to break into Blaine's locker when he could just hand him the envelope and tell him to give it to me."

"Interesting points."

"My bet is that there was some kind of post it note that said to slide the envelope under my door."

"I didn't ask, but I will."

"There's not really much point. It will just put Blaine at risk. Obviously, I know who put it in his locker. I'm still not going to press charges, but at least I can relax knowing that no one who actually wants to hurt me actually made it into the school to put the envelope under my door in person. Blaine's just being his normal oblivious self. That's better for him. Please do not give him any more reason to think about the envelope itself. The last thing I want is him to get hurt because he starts asking questions."

"Alright, Kurt. I'll let it drop. I think Blaine will not repeat the mistake of last night. If he wants back in the school, he's going to be redirected to me and not given any passes without speaking to me first."

"I don't think he'll be back for a while. He just came to brag about getting a callback for NYADA. He'll come back when he starts getting acceptance letters. He likes getting accolades from his fanboys. Sorry. That was not a polite thing to say. I'll watch my words more carefully. He likes to share his successes with the people here that he knew last year."

Art changed the topic. "I am hiring a body guard for you, Thad, and Sebastian. The three of you will perform the roles you earned through auditioning. It is wrong to allow bullies to prevent the three of you from performing this coming week."

Headmaster Carlson continued, "We will hire armed undercover security for the Sunday afternoon of the performance here at the school."

"I'm sorry, but I cannot agree to this. Thad and Sebastian can make their own choices, and they can participate if they want to, but I won't."

"Kurt, what were you threatened with?"

Kurt shook his head indicating that he would not answer that question. "It's not worth the extra expense of all that security just so I can sing and dance in a Cat in the Hat costume for an hour. Now, I would agree to a private performance where my parents, Thad's parents and Art can come and watch. Perhaps we could add a 'students only' performance Sunday morning and allow the five adults I just listed to attend."

"That's an idea," the headmaster agreed. "We could advertise a free morning performance for students only. We can keep the exterior doors to the auditorium locked and the only entrance into the auditorium would be through the school itself. I can provide passes for the five adults you mentioned and escort them to the auditorium myself."

"I will agree to that. If you can get Mr. Browning and the other cast members to agree to get up and give a morning performance, like at 10:30, then I will perform."

"I will contact him."

"I am relieved to know that no one who hates me got into the school," Kurt said.

"So am I," Art said. "Are you sure you won't reconsider and perform at the local schools?"

"I'm sure. I won't be leaving the school building to go to elementary schools."

"Alright then. Just let me know about Sunday morning."

"Okay."

Headmaster Carlson spoke, "Before you leave, let me give you this letter that came for the Warblers. You can give it Thad for the council to deal with."

Kurt took the envelope the headmaster handed to him. "I will give it to him. Is there anything else you need from me?"

"No, Kurt."

"Thank you for setting my mind at ease. If you need me for anything else, I'll be in my room writing a paper for AP European History." He got up and left the room and went back to his dorm room.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt opened the door to their room and found Thad reading one of the library books they had checked out the evening before. He walked over to him, kissed him and hung his uniform on the back of his desk chair. He grabbed his football sweats and hoodie and put them on.

"This letter came for the Warblers. Headmaster Carlson asked me to give it to you. Oh, it was Blaine that slipped the envelope under our door. He was under the impression that it was for me from Finn. I'll explain more later. I'm going to go talk to Sebastian for a few minutes."

"Okay." Thad took the envelope and stuck it in the book he was reading.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Come in," Sebastian said when Kurt knocked on the door between the bathroom and Sebastian's room.

Kurt walked in and sat on the extra bed and leaned back against the wall. "I asked him."

"Asked who what? OH! What did he say?"

"He said 'yes.'"

"That's great! Congratulations!"

"So, you know I want you to be our best man. Your our best friend."

"Yes. I already said I would be your witness and I'd go with you to New York. I'm looking forward to it."

"Well, you won't have to wait as long as I had originally planned. I want to go a the beginning of spring break."

"As in two weeks from now?"

"You got it." Kurt explained the plan to him.

"Alright. So, we drive to New York, spend the night, get a license, drive to Niagara Falls, do the tourist thing, you two get married, and you two fly to Florida and I fly back to Columbus. Did I forget anything?"

"I don't think so. March 5th is the date you'll need a plane ticket for. Buffalo to Columbus or somewhere else if you're not spending spring break in Columbus with your dad. I'll get us hotel rooms."

"I'll rent a car or get us a driver or something."

"Rent a car, I think. That way we can stop and go wherever we want."

"I'll look into it and tell you what I find later."

"Okay. We are not telling anyone. You are the only person who knows."

"Got it. Secret eloping." Sebastian smiled.

"You're okay with this right?"

"Sure. You two are great together. We'll still be best friends right? You're not going to ditch me just because you get married, right?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm not ditching you. Neither is Thad. You're his best friend too, you know."

"We'll tell Nick and Jeff when they get to France. That way it can't slip to anyone before school gets out. I know that he marriage won't be recognized in Ohio, but I don't want to risk anything weird with the school."

"I understand. This is something you two are doing for yourselves, not anyone else."

"Exactly. I'm going back to my room to write a paper. Come over at 6:00 at we'll go eat dinner." Kurt got up and walked back toward the bathroom.

"Alright."

Kurt shut the door behind him.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"You told him, didn't you?" Thad asked with a big smile on his face.

"I did. He's happy for us. We need to make sure we spend time with him, though. He's a little on edge that we'll get so wrapped up in ourselves that we'll leave him out."

"We won't, but I can understand how he could feel that way."

"So, what was the letter about?"

"Oh, I didn't open it. I was trying to get the information I needed from that book before I put it down." Thad pulled the envelope out of the book and opened it carefully. "It's the Regional Show Choir Competition information." Thad's expression changed quickly.

"What's wrong?"

"Regionals is being held at McKinley."

"Of course. Well, that eliminates me. I'm not even sure who we have that could replace me on the songs we've already been practicing."

"I think we should just drop out of Regionals and focus on the a cappella competition."

"That will have to be brought before the group. And I can't tell them why I can't perform. This is a mess."

"The date is the 10th." Thad pulled out his school issued agenda/calendar. That falls on the last Saturday of our spring break. That will be enough to get a lot of people to vote to drop out. People won't want to change their flights and we'd have to get the school to let us in the building at least by Friday so we could practice and then go to Lima on Saturday."

"McKinley's spring break isn't until the 17th to the 25th. Carole still wants us to join them for the last four days. I've not gone and asked yet. She wants us to be with them the 22nd through the 25th."

"Their spring break is a lot later than ours this year."

"Well, it will work in my favor if the group votes to not participate just because of the date. That way, I'll never have to bring up the fact that I can't go there."

"What about the a cappella competition? You'll have to leave the school grounds to participate in that."

"I know, but it's being held in Pittsburgh. I didn't think anyone would bother to follow me all the way there. And then the semi-finals are in Upstate New York."

"So, you're going to go?"

"Yes, as long as we have security. I won't go on any sight seeing trips in Pittsburgh, just in case. I'll stay in the hotel with one of the security officers. I'm pretty certain that none of them have any interest in spending six hours in a car each way just to harass me. And New York City is even farther. But we'll have to see I guess."

"I'm sending out a mass text to see if all of the Warblers are here on campus this weekend. We'll meet tomorrow at lunch if they are, so we can get this decided."

"Sounds good. I have to get busy on that paper. I had planned on being mostly done with the research by now and I haven't even opened a single book."

Thad patted the spot next to him on the bed.

"I'll try. If I can keep my focus, I'll sit in the bed with you." He grabbed a book and a notebook and pencil and sat down next to Thad. Thad looked him and smiled. Kurt couldn't resist. He leaned over and kissed him. "I love you." He opened the book and started reading.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian knocked on their door at 5:50. Kurt opened the door and let him in.

"You're early and you're wearing sweats."

"Always with the eagle eyes. Good spot, Sherlock."

Kurt mock punched him in the shoulder. "Why aren't you dressed for dinner? Have you decided you don't care about demerits anymore?"

"Actually, I've decided to not eat the cafeteria. It's pizza time. It's been too long since we just relaxed and ate pizza in your room."

"Alright, but I'm not in the mood for pizza. You and Thad order one to split and order me one of those pizza salads they have, Italian dressing please."

"You got it. I'll be right back." Sebastian left and came back a few minutes later with a book and his pillow in his hands.

"I know you have a ton of reading to do because you had so many interruptions to your day today. We'll eat and read." He added his pillow to the pillow on the unused bed and settled into read while he waited for the call that the food had arrived.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"These are so good. You should order one sometime. Olives, red peppers, onions, chopped up pepperoni, mozzerella cheese - yum."

"Maybe, but I like my pepperoni hot on melted cheese," Sebastian said before he took a bite of pizza.

"I will definitely vote to withdraw from the Show Choir Regionals, so that will make three definite 'yes' votes. I think you two could personally ask Nick, Jeff, Richard and Trent to vote to withdraw. They lived through having bricks thrown through their windows. They may not know specifically why, but I can completely see them being uninterested in going to McKinley for any reason. I'll speak up and say that it's just asking for trouble. We'll have to hire armed security to protect our minibus."

"That's true. If we park the minibus in the school parking lot, there's about a 95% chance the tires will all be slashed when we come out. Two armed security guards for a few hours probably cost less than all new tires and the cost of towing the minibus to a tire shop, namely my dad's because it's the closest to the school. Plus, we'd all be standing around like the perfect targets while our minibus is hauled away."

"And the three of us would need a security detail. It's an open event. Any of the football team or their family members could be there." Thad added.

"Plus, the truth is if they do MJ, we don't really have much of a chance. If we had faced them at Sectionals, we would have lost. MJ just calls to people. His music is so iconic and it just resonates with people," Kurt said.

"So, we present them with the option of withdrawing or standing our ground and going in with security?" Thad asked.

"Seems reasonable to me. But I still think we won't win. And if we do, it might bring more retaliation. Six of the New Directions guys were on the football team. I think only that exchange student they have and Blaine weren't on the team. I think it's just a mess." Kurt had pulled his knees up, wrapped his arms around his legs, and put his head down on his knees, pulling himself into a ball, clearly struggling not to take on guilt for something he didn't actually do.

Thad scooted closer to him and wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulders. "Hey, don't let your thoughts go there. You didn't commit any crimes. It's not your fault that they had parents who didn't teach them the right way to behave and that they didn't figure it out on their own by the time they were in high school."

"Oh, they know. They just choose to do what they want anyway."

"See. Deep down you know that they chose to do this."

"I do, but I feel like if we show up, with armed security guarding our minibus and we strut through the halls with security guards that we're just egging them on to up the ante. It just feels like if we keep them from doing petty things like slashing our minibus' tires, that we're just asking them to do something like rolling something under it and detonating it, setting our minibus on fire like my Navigator. It's how wars start."

"Except that we aren't fighting back," Thad said.

"I know. But is that good or bad?"

"I get it," Sebastian said. "It's wrong to let them win by intimidating us, but it's wrong to fight back in any way that would actually make them stop. If we fight back, they might think twice about escalating the situation. But we don't want to fight back. We just want them to stop."

"I don't want carved up again." Kurt fought back tears.

"Is that what you were threatened with?" Thad asked.

Kurt didn't respond. He hadn't meant to let that escape from his thoughts into spoken words. Both Thad and Sebastian had witnessed the nightmares from the attack in the club.

"Worse."

"Well, I think most everyone is here this weekend. We'll meet at lunch to discuss the issue," Thad said.

Sebastian collected the trash and took the pizza box and Kurt's salad bowl out of the room to the larger trash bin in the hall, knowing that Kurt didn't want food remnants in his room trashcan. He came back, picked his book back up, got comfortable on the bed and started to read again.

Thad and Kurt rearranged and started their reading again too.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, Kurt, Thad, and Sebastian got a text from Mr. Browning to meet in the Warblers room at 9:00am. When they arrived, the rest of the _Seussical_ cast that was on campus was either already there are showed up within a few minutes.

Mr. Browning started the meeting. "I've called all of you here because we've been asked to give a school-only performance of _Seussical_ next Sunday morning at 10:30am. I am not going to go into details, but most of you are aware of the fact that Kurt has been targeted by bullies from his old school and they have targeted the school itself. Due to a new threat to Kurt's safety, he will not be able to travel with us this week to the elementary schools or perform next Sunday afternoon. This school-only performance would allow more people from the community to attend the performance in the afternoon because there would be fewer students in attendance. But this needs to be a decision we make as a group because it means an additional performance that you had not agreed to originally."

"So, Kurt won't be going with us?" Trent asked.

"Neither will I," Thad said.

"Trent, you're right. I won't be performing with the group off campus or in a public performance at the school."

"Well, I vote that we do the extra performance then. Kurt and Thad worked really hard to get their parts right. They should get to perform at least once," Trent said.

"I agree," Jeff said.

"Me too," Xavier said.

"Alright, we'll take a vote. I don't want anyone to know how anyone else votes. Form a circle."

Everyone stood and made a circle.

"Take one step backwards and turn and face away from the circle. Close your eyes. Now, raise your right hand if you want to perform next Sunday morning."

Mr. Browning smiled when he saw that everyone had raised their hands.

"Alright, then. We'll perform next Sunday morning. We'll meet in the auditorium at 9:30 to warm up. I need to talk to Bradford and Michael. Everyone else is free to go."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

At lunch, only one Warbler was missing. Thad decided to go ahead with talking about Regionals. He stood up to get everyone's attention and then sat back down.

"As you all know, a few weeks before each Show Choir competition we get a letter telling us who we well be competing against, and the date, time, and location of the competition."

Everyone nodded.

"Well, our letter came yesterday. We're set to compete against McKinley's New Directions and Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow's Golden Goblets. The competition date is March 10th at McKinley."

"Ugh!" Trent said. "Why there?"

"That's the last Saturday of our spring break," Nick said after looking at his phone.

"Exactly," Thad said. "That's why I brought this up today. I know that most of the Warblers will miss rehearsal this next week because of _Seussical_. I didn't want to wait until next Monday to share this information."

"If we back out, we're just handing the New Directions a free ticket to Nationals," Flint said. "Seriously, there is no way a madrigal singing group has a chance at beating the New Directions. Not with Blaine and Rachel as their lead singers."

Richard spoke up. "If we go there, we'll need security. People from that school threw bricks through our windows and defaced the school. I'm sure they won't be pleased to see us."

"Could we ask for a date and venue change?" Trent asked.

"I really don't know," Thad answered. "I guess I could call tomorrow and find out if there's any way to ask for that. We're going to Pittsburgh the following weekend to compete in the a cappella competition, so we'd have to ask to have the Show Choir Regionals moved to March 24th."

"I don't think that request will be successful. The New Directions will fight the date change because that's the last Saturday of their spring break," Kurt said.

"We could ask for it to be changed to the 18th, possibly," Michael suggested.

"I can see what the possibilities are. But I want to take a vote now. If we cannot change the date and we cannot change the venue, do we still want to participate?"

"My parents already have plane tickets for us to go visit my grandparents. I don't think they'd like having to change our plans and come back three days early," Luke said.

"I have the same issue, changing plane tickets," John said.

"Me too," Flint said.

"I figured most of the group has the same problem. How many of you are flying somewhere for spring break and weren't going to be back until Sunday?" Thad asked. He counted the raised hands, including his own. "Okay, so 17 of us are here and 12 of us have plane tickets that we'd have to change."

David spoke up, "It looks to me like we need to withdraw if Thad cannot come up with a way to get the date moved. All in favor of withdrawing unless a suitable alternate date is found, raise your hand."

It was unanimous. Even the Warblers who weren't flying somewhere didn't want to participate during spring break.

"Alright. I will see what I can find out tomorrow. If I am told that there is no other possible date, I will pull us out of Regionals," Thad confirmed.

Trent said, "I hope they let us change the date and the venue. I would love to beat them. I know that no one in that group threw the bricks through our windows, but I'd like to beat them fair and square. Their bullies are terrible."

"They are," Thad agreed. "But I don't think beating their Show Choir will change their attitudes."

"I still think we'll need security guards for our minibus even if we get the venue changed. They already know who they're competing against, just like we do. So, our minibus will be at risk no matter where or when the competition is held. I think we need to talk to the school about how much they're willing to do for us to be able to participate. It may be that the headmaster would rather us just withdraw. I think the council or a council representative needs to talk to him first," Sebastian said.

"I'll go talk to him before I call tomorrow," Thad agreed.

The official discussion stopped and the group split back into their smaller conversations.

Thad noticed that Kurt really hadn't eaten anything, and he had mostly skipped breakfast as well. The stress of all of it was getting to him. The whole thing made Thad so angry. The only reason that he and Sebastian had auditioned for the musical was to be with Kurt and have fun. Now, they both watched as Kurt slipped farther away again.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian spent the rest of the day with Kurt and Thad. He was working to make sure that he was ahead in his work for 6th period since he'd be missing it all week. He struggled with whether it was right for him to go ahead and perform or whether he should have dropped out with Kurt and Thad.

Sebastian broke the silence. "Kurt, are you upset with me that I didn't drop out of _Seussical_?"

"No, not at all. Why would you think that?"

"Well, Thad dropped out. I didn't know."

"That was Thad's choice. There was no direct threat to Thad for leaving campus. And no threat to you. If I hadn't been re-threatened I would still be going. I obviously would have never auditioned for the musical if I hadn't intended on performing for all of the shows. I thought Mr. Browning's idea of having all of the older students get the lead parts and putting the younger students as the understudies was good, but it turns out now that two freshmen get lead roles that could have been cast with upperclassmen. But now I feel really bad about it because two upperclassmen could have had the roles. Like Nick and Richard."

"I know we sound like a broken record, but this isn't your fault," Sebastian said.

"It is. If I had just gone to school somewhere else this year, none of this would have happened. If I had just accessed my educational fund, I could have gone to school in Arizona or Montana or somewhere."

Sebastian didn't say anything else. He just went back to looking at the book he was holding. He tried not to let it hurt, but it did.

Thad tried to go back to reading, but a few tears managed to escape and slip down his cheeks. He didn't wipe them, hoping that Kurt would be focused elsewhere and just not notice them.

When no one said anything Kurt looked up. He saw Sebastian's stoic look of concentration on his book. He turned to look at Thad and saw the tear tracks. "I'm sorry. I can't win for losing. Nothing I say fixes anything. And now, I've hurt the two people I care about most. I'm just sorry. Nothing I say or do is right anymore. And I'm not just throwing a temper tantrum. I can't even be a man of my word anymore. I took a role in a production with the understanding that my job was to perform the role to the best of my ability and then the day before, I quit. I'm a quitter, which is something I would have never, ever, ever considered myself to be."

"And that's because of me," Thad said. "You quit so that I wouldn't be hurt. I'm certain that you would have gone on stage tomorrow at the elementary school just like planned if I hadn't been threatened."

"Thad and I talked about this months ago. We feel as torn as you. You just haven't thought about it from our perspectives. After we came into your life, you became vulnerable. You are a superhero and now that villains have found your weakness, namely the two of us, Thad especially. They've been able to attack you with more success than they ever did before."

"We don't want you to be alone, but we also feel the pull of walking away because you would be stronger without us. We make you vulnerable," Thad said.

"NO! You two make me strong. You two make me believe in continuing to try. By now, I would have probably run away and or well..."

Sebastian got up and crossed the short distance between the beds in one step. He took Kurt's book out of his hand and motioned for him to make room. Kurt pulled his legs up so Sebastian could sit down. "STOP. Just stop. We all have to stop. I am glad that I am your friend. You're the first person who reached out to me here. Thad has been nothing but nice to me, despite how I behaved when I first got here. If you had gone somewhere else to school, I would be halfway through a regular Ohio junior year curriculum, facing another nearly three semesters of school, adding a whole year to my high school career and making bad life choices in my angry state. My dad and I would have never gotten to know each other because I would have avoided him like the plague and my behavior would have done nothing to make him think anything other than what he already thought about gay guys."

"If you had gone somewhere else to school without me, I would have been heartbroken." Thad took Kurt's hand. "You think you're this harbinger of doom when really you're this ray of light that's so bright that it blinds people with dark hearts. They do everything they can to snuff out your light so they can enjoy their darkness. But to everyone else, you're this amazing illuminating force of nature. Don't let those dark-hearted, awful people convince you that you are anything but the amazing man that you are."

"All I can say is that I'll try."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Monday afternoon during last period, Kurt was sitting in the library reading one last source to use for the paper that he still hadn't finished. It was due the next day and he was down to the wire, which he usually did allow himself to be. It had been an exhausting weekend, but good in some respects. He recalled asking Thad to go to New York for the first few days of spring break and to marry him. He closed his eyes and tried to keep hold of the feeling he had when Thad said 'yes' and opened his eyes to finish with the book.

He copied down what he needed and put the book on the cart to be reshelved. He turned in all of the books that he and Thad had borrowed the Friday before.

He sat back down and pulled out a different notebook. He had written all of the information that he had gathered about his grandparents in it. Solange had been very helpful, but he hadn't done anything with the information she had given him a couple of weeks back.

He had their names and current address. His grandpère, Bertrand, had been a professor at a conservatory in Paris, but had retired and still gave private piano lessons. His grandmère, Charlise, was a beautician who still worked part time in the business she had once owned, but sold when she wanted to retire. He hadn't told anyone that he had actually found them because he didn't know what to do with the information. He couldn't bring himself to call them and tell them that their daughter had died a decade ago over the phone.

But he also felt guilty knowing how to contact them and doing nothing. He wouldn't be going to France for another three and a half months and it seemed cruel to keep the truth from them for that much longer.

His mind jumped to the upcoming weekend. How was he going to keep his France plans secret from his dad when everyone else who was staying with Art already knew? He knew he had to tell Burt, but he just didn't know how. Any time Finn found out anything related to Kurt, Kurt got more threats. At least that's how he felt. This last time, Finn finding out about him getting the lead in the musical actually prevented him from playing the role like he should have.

Between Blaine and Finn it was a toss up as to who was the more clueless.

Suddenly, Kurt found himself with a lap full of Thad.

"You took too long to come back. I came to find you."

"Mmm." Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad's waist.

Thad leaned down and quickly kissed Kurt, which surprised Kurt, but made him smile.

"I needed one more quote, but then I sat back down after I turned the books in. I got lost in my thoughts. Sorry."

"It's fine. Are you ready to go back to our room? We can't go to dinner yet and there's no rehearsal. Or I can slide into my own chair and we can work on some homework in here."

"I like the chair you're in," Kurt said as he smiled.

"Me too, but I really don't think I can focus while sitting in this chair and I think the librarian will disapprove if she gets up from her desk at the front and finds me sitting in this chair."

"Well, she's a spoil sport then."

Thad leaned in and whispered very quietly. "We could go up to our room and study naked."

Kurt had to cover his mouth and pretend cough to cover over the sound he made.

"So, why are you still sitting on my lap then?"

Thad hopped up, waited for Kurt to put his notebooks in his satchel, took his hand and they left the library with ridiculous smiles on their faces.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They got under the covers and snuggled up. "I want to tell you something." Kurt said.

"Alright."

"I found out where my grandparents live and I got their phone number - about two weeks ago."

"Oh."

"I didn't know what to do about it and I still don't."

"It's a hard situation all around. But looking at it from the outside, it seems to me that your dad ought to be the one to call. You can be present during the call, but it really doesn't fall to you to be the one to have to tell your grandparents about your mother."

"You're right. I just feel like I can't tell my dad anything anymore because he can't say anything about me in front of Finn and that puts too much pressure on him. He was obviously proud that I had gotten the lead in the musical and he and Carole somehow let it slip and talked about it when Finn was in the house. If I tell him about my grandparents whereabouts and I tell him that I'm going to France, he'll want to talk to Carole about it, which makes perfect sense because I talk about what's important to me with you." He kissed Thad and continued talking. "But I can't trust him to always make sure that Finn is no where around when he talks to Carole. I mean, I know who put that envelope in Blaine's locker. I know that Finn spends time around that person. I cannot have that person find out my plans to go to France."

"I think you need to tell this to your dad. I think the barrier that you have between the two of you is hurting both of you. I know that telling him why you're shutting him out won't change the fact that you are going to continue to shut him out, but I think it might take away some of the pain of being shut out."

"That's probably true. Will you hold me while I call him?"

"Sure."

Kurt got up and got his phone off his desk and lay back down as the little spoon.

"Hey, Dad. Do you have time to talk right now?"

"Sure. At least for a little while. How did your show go today?"

"I didn't perform."

"Are you sick or something?"

"No. There are things that I can't tell you. Things I've been keeping from you. I called to tell you that I'm sorry that I can't tell you a lot of things that I'd like to. But I can't."

"I don't understand, Kurt. Performing is a big deal for you. You wouldn't just flake out and quit at the last minute."

"You're right. I didn't flake out. I was accosted again in public, in Columbus. I wasn't injured, just threatened. I had to drop out to protect myself and Thad after I got another threat delivered directly to the school. He dropped out as well. There's going to be a special performance Sunday morning at the school just for students. You, Carole, Ellen, Donovan, and Art will be allowed to attend. You'll just need to call when you get here so I can come meet you. You'll get a visitor's pass and Headmaster Carlson will escort you five to the auditorium personally."

"I see. So, you'll be in that show?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, I guess it's good that you get to perform at least once after all the work you put into it. How did the threat get into the school?"

"In an envelope."

Thad could hear Burt's part of the conversation because he was lying so close to Kurt. He squeezed him knowing that Kurt was trying to avoid giving Burt any details.

"But you're safe inside the school?"

"Yes. The ground floor rooms were sealed off and the security guards are still guarding the building 24/7."

"Good."

"I need to explain something to you. The threat that made it into the school was because of Finn. He told the New Directions that I was the lead in the musical. I'm sure he did it with absolutely no intention to harm me. I'm sure he thought that at least a few of them would be glad for me that I was being able to be in a production here. But that information made it around to the people who don't want me to be happy at all. One of those people also knew that Blaine was coming to Dalton this past Friday. He found an envelope in his locker with my name on it, assumed it was from Finn OR the person who put it in there wrote a post it note and said it was from Finn, I'm not sure which. Blaine brought the envelope here and it ended up being put under my door."

"So, you found the envelope, opened it and found another threat."

"Well, I found a newspaper article from the Westerville newspaper that had my photo printed with it, despite my having no knowledge that my photo would appear in the paper. The threat was stapled to the newspaper article."

"I see."

"If Finn had never said anything, no one would have known to even look for any information about the performances in the Westerville newspaper. Fortunately for the other people in the musical, both of our understudies were prepared and the show went on this afternoon without us. But I have no doubt that the threat was leveled at the last minute with the hopes that the whole production would collapse without me since I was the lead."

"So, because Carole and I talked about you getting the lead and Finn heard us, he told everyone that knew you or at least the Glee club and no you don't get to perform."

"That's pretty much it. I can't tell you anything important anymore, Dad. I'm sorry. I called you to make sure you understand that I am making a choice to keep you out of the loop about anything important in my life. I can't have myself or Thad threatened anymore than we already have been. I have about three and a half months before school ends and I'd like for me and Thad to remain uninjured. I can't tell you where we're going to school. I can't tell you anything else. And I am sorry."

"What am I supposed to tell Finn? I've heard him talking to Blaine about the New Directions going to Westerville Sunday afternoon to watch the show."

"You just need to tell him I that I dropped out."

"He won't believe that anymore than I would."

"It's the truth. I did drop out. Don't tell him anything else. I'm serious, Dad. If you value my safety, you need to just tell him tell the New Directions not to come here Sunday because I won't be performing that afternoon."

"Alright. Oh, we decided on a location for spring break. We're going to Melbourne. It's a nice area with a nice beach and it's about an hour and a half from Orlando if Finn wants to go to any of those theme parks."

"Did he decide who he's inviting?"

"Yeah. I was surprised by this choice, but Puck doesn't have the money. He's still working to pay Ms. Corcoran back. Dave's got the money and he and Finn have gotten to be good friends over the course of the year. He's been over a lot because of being in Glee. He's got a girlfriend that was part of the girls group that rejoined with the Glee group. Cassie. She's a Cheerio. Finn said something about that she's going to her grandparents' or something so Dave's got nothing to do over break."

"I see. Well, I haven't gotten permission to skip school for two days yet. I'll have to let you know about that once I find out."

"Alright, kiddo. I hope you can. We'd really like for you to be there with us."

"I'll see. I'll let you know when you're here Saturday if I can."

"Okay. We'll see you Saturday."

"Bye, Dad." Kurt disconnected the call and put his phone on Thad's desk since he could reach it without getting up.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

It had been over an hour since Kurt had hung up from talking to Burt and he hadn't moved or said a word. Thad rubbed his fingers gently across Kurt's chest. He was still holding him close. He could feel Kurt's heart beating and hear him breathing, but that was the only proof that he was alive.

Thad felt like he needed to make sure Kurt was okay, but he didn't really know what to do. He kissed him on the shoulder and then up his neck. Kurt scooted back even though there was no space between them. Thad smiled and squeezed Kurt a little and continued with the gentle kisses. Kurt had acknowledged his presence and that's what counted. He didn't want Kurt to go to the dark places in his mind and feel alone.

Kurt stayed in the same position all night. The next morning Thad managed to get out of the bed with quite a bit of difficulty. He got his brace on and went and knocked on Sebastian's door.

"You need to tell the nurse that Kurt and I are sick and if we don't feel better by the time school lets out, we'll come see her. She can come check on us if she feels that she needs to, but this way, we can make up our work we miss today. Can you take these papers and turn them in too? We worked too hard on them to risk getting marked down for them being late. I can get the rest of our work for today bundled up if you come back for it at lunch."

"I'll do all of that if you tell me what's going on. Kurt promised not to shut me out."

"He's been absolutely silent since he hung up from talking to his dad last night. I heard every word the two of them said to each other and I don't honestly know what caused this, but something in that conversation triggered him into absolute silence. He's not shutting you out. He's shut down period. I'm going to stay with him all day."

"Alright. I'll be back at lunch."

"Thanks."

"Of course."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad went to the bathroom, grabbed a bottle of water from their stash and put it on his desk. He grabbed his phone, got back into bed and took his brace back off. He worked his way back into his spot and slipped back behind Kurt, who still hadn't moved.

Thad put his phone under his pillow, wrapped his arm back around Kurt and slipped his other arm under Kurt's pillow. Kurt moved his right hand up to hold Thad's. Kurt opened his left hand and interlaced their hands on his chest. But he still lay absolutely still otherwise, and he said nothing.

They lay that way until Sebastian showed up at lunch. Thad texted for him to go around and come in through the bathroom. Sebastian had two sack lunches that he put on their dresser, not going in the room very far.

"The nurse said she will give you a pass when you're ready to go back to class, but if she doesn't hear from you before 4:00, she's coming up to check on the two of you."

"Alright. Thanks for the food and everything."

"You're welcome. I'll go back out the way I came in so you don't have to get up right now. I know how time consuming and hard that is. Oh, and I won't be back until right before dinner. Today is the first day of lacrosse practice."

"Got it. Thanks again."

Sebastian nodded and left.

Thad pressed gentle kisses into Kurt's shoulder. "Kurt, love. You need to do something. You've been lying in bed for 18 hours straight. You need to drink at least."

Kurt opened his eyes. "18 hours?"

"Yes. You put your phone down yesterday afternoon at 6:00 or so and it's a little after noon."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make us miss class."

"It's alright. Sebastian told Nurse Taylor that we're sick. She excused us from class for today, but we have to go see her by 4:00 or she's coming up to examine us."

Kurt moved to sit up. "Will you shower with me?"

"Of course."

They showered and got dressed in their football sweats. Sebastian had brought them "sick lunches" - saltine crackers, applesauce, and bananas, along with two bottles of water. They drank some water and they each ate a banana and the crackers with some peanut butter on them that they had stashed for emergencies.

"Let's go see her during 7th period. Our morning teachers probably already emailed us our assignments for today. Let's work on those for a while before we head down there."

"Alright."

"Actually, let just see what they are. At 1:00, I need to go see if Miss Webber is available or just wait until she is."

"Okay."

"We're not going to Florida with my parents. I need to make sure that she makes sure that we are not given permission to leave and the only way to do that is to tell her things I don't want to tell anyone, but she's legally obligated to keep private."

"I'm lost, but okay."

"I'd rather not explain it twice. You'll hear the whole thing after while."

Kurt patted his lap. Thad got up from his chair and took a step and sat in Kurt's lap. Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad. He tipped his head up and Thad took that as the offered kiss that it was. He leaned down and kissed Kurt.

"I've changed my mind entirely. Forget the assignments. I think making out is a much better use of the next 20 minutes," Kurt said as he kissed down Thad's neck.

"You've convinced me."

"That wasn't very hard to do," Kurt smiled into the kisses he was still pressing into Thad's neck."

"Umm," Thad was having difficulty focusing. "Well your kisses are too amazing to pass up."

They continued kissing until they needed to head downstairs.


	20. Chapter 20

They waited outside Miss Webber's office for about 15 minutes until she had an opening in her schedule.

"What can I do for the two of you today?" Miss Webber asked. "Why are you not in uniform?"

"I'm sorry about that. We didn't go to class today. Kurt was quite unwell and I stayed back to take care of him. We're going to see Nurse Taylor next."

"Alright. How I can help you?"

"I need to tell you something that I don't want to tell you, but I have few options at this point. What I say is confidential right? You said you're a licensed counselor, which makes you bound by law to keep what I say private, right?"

"Unless it involves parental abuse for people under 18, which I'm required to report by law, or you are suicidal or a threat to yourself or someone else. But you are not under 18 and I don't think this has anything to do with your parents."

"You are right on both of those. But it does have to do with my family, but it's not abuse."

"Alright."

"You know about the threats..."

"You've refused to see me all year. I'm well aware of the threats, Kurt."

"Well, you've known all along that I knew my attacker in Columbus."

"Yes, but you refused to ID him."

"Right. This has to do with that."

"Alright."

"First it was, 'Don't play in the football game against McKinley or else.' Now, it's 'stay on campus or else.'"

"Which is why you quit the musical."

"Correct."

"I'm backing up a little. Over Christmas break, my parents were supposed to come visit me and Thad at his place in Florida. I cancelled because I realized that now that my dad is a congressman, he is a recognizable public figure. If people who knew who he was took photos of him hoping to sell them to any news agency, my whereabouts could have been part of that story because people could ID the location from the photo. You know, 'Local Congressman Enjoy Christmas in Nowheresville, Florida'. Anything from IDing the kind of food he was eating or his lack-of-budget-watching, wasteful spending on a 4-day trip."

"I understand. You didn't want anyone to know where you were so you didn't have him come."

"Correct. Well, my stepbrother was really upset because he found out that they were coming to see me without him. So, my stepmother offered to take him to Florida for spring break as compensation for not getting to go at Christmas. So, they want me and Thad to ask permission to get two days off in March to go with them to Florida for a family trip. This wouldn't be to Thad's family's place. It would be to a hotel, so my whereabouts wouldn't be an issue because a hotel is not where I live when I'm not at school."

"I get it."

"I need you to back up my request to the headmaster to refuse my parents' request to allow me to miss those two days of school, if one of them contacts the school directly seeking to have me excused for those two days."

"Why? You're a good student, so is Thad. The headmaster is going to easily approve that request."

"Which is why you have to be on my side and refuse to allow him to grant the request."

"Now, I'm lost."

"My parents told my stepbrother that he could take one person with them on the trip, so long as that person paid for their own plane ticket, meals, and expenditures. The person could split the hotel room with him because it wouldn't cost them any extra for another person in a room they were already paying for."

"That makes sense."

"They are staying the full week. Thad and I are supposed to arrive on Thursday and stay through Sunday. We can't go."

"Why not?"

"The person my stepbrother invited is the person who assaulted me in Columbus in the fall, then accosted me in Columbus again recently, and who threatened to kill me last year causing me to transfer here."

"Oh, my God," Thad said. "That's why you were practically catatonic for 18 hours."

"So, your attacker this fall is the same person who threatened to kill you last fall. And is now friends with your stepbrother?"

"Yes."

"How did that happen?"

"I'm going to call him 'J'."

"That's fine."

"Last spring, one of the female students at McKinley found out something about J. She blackmailed J into joining an anti-bullying club she called the Bully Whips. Quite a few people tried to get me to go back to McKinley under the pretense that the Bully Whips were keeping the bullies in line and I wouldn't have to worry anymore. She also got him to join New Directions. It's my understanding that he is actually quite a good singer and a decent dancer."

"So, this girl bullied a bully into joining her anti-bully club?"

"As ludicrous as it sounds, yes."

"Alright."

"So, the thing she found out was that he's gay. When I found out last fall, he threatened to kill me. But she's the HBIC at McKinley and she threatened to out him if he didn't do as she said. She's a lesbian, who was also closeted at the time. So, they were each other's beards. Do you know what that word means?"

"Yes."

"Alright. So, over the summer, J helped his mother who worked at a conversion camp so that he could overcome his gayness without her finding out that he was gay. Obviously coming out to a family where the mother works at a conversion camp is not going to go well for the person. So, that's why J was willing to do whatever he was bullied into - to prevent his mother from finding out and disowning him."

"Sad."

"It is. But he considers himself cured. He started his senior year, got a new girlfriend, one of the Cheerios. He bullied me relentlessly because I was gay. His mother believes that homosexuality is contagious. He blamed me because I was openly gay and frequently chose to wear gender-bending clothing. I had worn corsets and skirts to school. I frequently wore women's sweaters as well. He claims that I confused his mind and he became gay, that he caught it from me."

"Ridiculous."

"Obviously, but we are not discussing people who believe in science and logic. So, after his amazing camp conversion back to being straight, he has taken up the fight to rid the world of sin, namely being gay, starting with me."

"So, he somehow found out that you were going to be at that club in Columbus and went there specifically to target you."

"Yes. That fiasco falls on Blaine. Jeff posted to his Facebook page that we were headed there that evening. Jeff and Blaine are Facebook friends. Blaine liked and commented on the post. J is friends with Blaine on Facebook because they are in New Directions together. J saw where we were going. J showed up attacked me in the bathroom leaving me with a constant reminder of my ultimate destination should I refuse to repent."

"Okay. That's pretty vague."

"I'll show you, but you have to tell me again that you're not allowed to tell anyone outside this room."

"I'm not allowed to tell anyone outside this room anything unless you are a threat to yourself or others."

Kurt pulled his sleeve up and showed Miss Webber what it said.

"Die fag. Burn in he..."

"Sebastian kicked the door in before he finished."

"I see. That's what was sprayed on the dorm building as well."

"Yes. So, now J has infiltrated my family. He stayed in Glee Club, and he's befriended my stepbrother. My stepbrother who lost his ex-girlfriend that he still had feelings for to Blaine last winter, who lost the girlfriend had had after that, who has been feeling particularly lonely and left out since Blaine went to McKinley and usurped position as lead in the Glee club, and who didn't get scouted by anyone for college football because eight members of the football team were in jail - half in Lima for assaulting me, Thad, and Sebastian - and the other half in Westerville for vandalizing the school. So, he's been down for ages and J has filled that gap. Last night my dad told me how he's changed and he's been hanging out at my house with the Glee guys for months. I had quit speaking to my stepbrother after my car was set on fire, which I'm 99% sure was J's doing as well."

"I'm still not quite clear why you've decided to tell me all of this now."

"Because my dad will insist that I be given those two days off from school. I can't go to Florida with J and my stepbrother and my parents and I can't tell him why."

"Why don't you want him to know that J hasn't changed and is the one threatening you."

"Because that's part of the threat. I can't reveal his identity or else."

"Or else what?"

"I can't say that either."

"You're not giving me much to go on."

"I showed you my arm. How much more serious do you think someone who threatened to kill me 16 months ago, who carved up my arm, gave me a concussion, bruised ribs, and refractured my arm is going to be before something drastic happens? We can't spend four days on a vacation with him in the same hotel. Just because I can't SAY what the threat is, doesn't mean you can't figure it out."

"Alright. So, I will back your request to deny you the days off if the request is presented to me. I have no idea what reason I'll give, but I'll find something. And it seems to me that you've found the weak link - your stepbrother."

"Yes. I shut him out several times, but then he went to counseling and he got help for a lot of his issues. It was hard to shut him out then when he wrote me a heartfelt apology letter. He's actually a decent guy now, but utterly clueless. He won't recognize that he's being manipulated. I didn't even know until yesterday afternoon, but that's because I've been staying away from everything Lima related. So, now the person I least want to be around has wormed his way into spending a lot of time with my family and ingratiating himself specifically with my dad. It's such a mess."

"It is."

"More than you have even realized. We face New Directions at Regionals at McKinley. His threat requires me to stay on the school grounds. If I show up, I'm facing the 'or else'. If I don't go, we will lose because no one else has my range and we do not have time to choose a new set list and learn new choreography. He already took away my role as the Cat in the Hat. Now, he's taking away my ability to lead the Warblers at Regionals. This has been a long well-thought out plan on his part. He's playing the long game."

"You're sure it's an actual plan."

"He was in calculus as a junior. He may be an awful human being, but he's smart."

"I see."

"I'm the only thing he has left to destroy. He's taken my family, my home, my Navigator, my clothes. So, will it be my mind or my body that he destroys?"

"Don't talk like that, Kurt," Thad insisted.

"I'm pretty sure it's my mind. Never letting me have happiness in my life. The constant feeling of hopelessness due to he inability to end the situation."

No one said anything for a few minutes.

Kurt spoke again. "I do have a question. Is there a non-release form I can sign or a form that requires the school to get my permission to release any information about me?"

"Sure, since you are 18. Let me look." She opened a file drawer and pulled out two forms. "Please print your full name on the top line, then sign and date the bottom."

Kurt did as he was told.

"Can I sign those forms too, please? I don't anyone to be able to call the school and pretend to be from some college and get information about me."

Miss Webber pulled a second copy of each form out and offered Thad a pen. He filled them out and signed and dated them. Kurt handed her all four sheets of paper.

"Thank you," Kurt said. "I appreciate your help with this."

"If either of you ever want to set up a time to talk on a regular basis, you know where to find me. I can't say that in this particular case that I have anything really helpful to offer, but sometimes people feel better just talking about things and expressing their emotions."

"Thanks for the offer. We're going to head to see Miss Taylor now." Kurt stood. Thad stood up next.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad and Kurt convinced Miss Taylor that they were feeling "much better, thank you" and she gave them a brief exam and told them to take it easy for dinner and come in the next morning, if they were still feeling bad.

They went back up to their room and worked on their schoolwork until they had to change for dinner. They read more while they waited for Sebastian to get back. About 15 minutes later, he knocked on their door.

Kurt opened the door and let him in and shut the door. Sebastian pulled him into a hug. "I'm glad to see you up. You looked bad earlier."

Kurt mocked punched him. "I never look bad." He put his nose up to the side and looked up toward the ceiling.

"Yeah, yeah. You keep telling yourself that. I glad you're better. Feeling like eating dinner?"

"We're ready."

The three left for the cafeteria, Thad and Kurt hand in hand with Sebastian on Kurt's left.

"So, how was lacrosse?" Thad asked.

"Tiring. It was just conditioning today. I'm out of shape."

Kurt laughed.

"What?"

"That's how I felt for months. I never felt like I got in shape. No matter how much you work at it, the trainers come up with something new for you to do that makes muscles you didn't know you even had hurt."

"Great. Something to look forward to," Sebastian deadpanned.

"Oh, but the muscles look so nice," Thad teased.

"Uh huh. Says the guy with the hot football player boyfriend. It's not nice to tease the single guy."

"So, we've moved from 'princess' to 'hot football player'?" Kurt laughed.

"You were hot then. I just thought you were high strung and I could get you on edge by poking at you. I was supposed to become lead Warbler. I didn't know we could share. I was trying to irritate you into losing your control so I could take your position. But then you melted my wicked ice heart and turned me into a nice guy," Sebastian said, fluttering his eyes innocently.

"Because I'm so hot?" Kurt was laughing so hard he was having trouble breathing. "I MELTED your ice heart because I'm so HOT."

"You two are crazy."

Kurt was still cackling, "But you love our crazy."

They all got in line and grabbed what they wanted to eat and went and sat down at the table the Warblers usually sat at.

Kurt's mood dropped almost instantaneously as he put his tray down and the other guys were talking about how much fun it had been to see the little kids so excited about watching _Seussical_.

He stood back up and walked toward the line like he had forgotten something, then took a detour and headed for the cafeteria doors and walked out them, down the hall, straight back into the dorm building, and up the stairs to their room.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

He redressed in his sweats and sat back down to get started on his schoolwork. He didn't want to fall more behind. All of the turmoil of the weekend had already robbed him of a lot of study time.

A half hour later, Thad came back. He kissed Kurt on the side of the neck as he wrapped his arms around Kurt's shoulders from behind. He changed into sweats and sat down at his desk and got busy on his own schoolwork.

Around 8:00, there was a knock at their door. Kurt got up to answer the door. He opened it to find Sebastian standing there offering him a brown paper sack. He took the sack from Sebastian and stepped back, letting him into the room. Kurt looked in the sack.

"Thank you." He sat the sack down on the dresser and hugged Sebastian. "Wanna study with us? It's a no talking zone though. I fell behind over the weekend and then made it worse by staying in bed all evening last night. Missing class all day just piled more work on."

"I'll stay just to make sure you actually EAT that."

"I'll eat it. When have I ever turned down a Greek salad and baklava?"

"Well, there's a first time for everything."

Kurt pulled the salad out of the sack and found the plastic fork and walked over to his desk. He stacked the notebook and books up and put the salad down and took the lid off and took a bite and smiled. "It's really good. Thanks. You didn't have to."

"I know. I wanted to. I'll go change and come back through the bathroom so you don't have to get up again after you lock the door."

Kurt locked it after he left and sat back down to eat.

Thad said, "Just so you know, that was completely his idea. I didn't know about it. He really does care about you. You had him really worried earlier."

"I know he cares. He's a good friend."

Kurt kept eating and a few minutes later, Sebastian came in through the bathroom. He plopped down on the bed next to Kurt's desk. He fluffed the pillows and opened one of his textbooks. Kurt rinsed his bowl after he finished and dumped it in the trash. He opened the sack back up and pulled out the baklava, only to realize there was more than one slice. He pulled the other two containers out.

"I see there's dessert for everyone, unless you're trying to tell me I'm too skinny and need to eat more."

"Nah. The other two are for me and Thad. You're not too skinny or too fat."

Kurt handed the containers and pulled out the forks he hadn't notice earlier. He sat back at his desk. "This is really good."

"I agree. Just the right amount of flaky and gooey," Thad said.

"I've been thinking since this afternoon and I need to tell both of you something."

"What?" Thad asked.

"I'm going to tell everyone that I'm applying to a university in Alaska and Oregon for college. It's as far away as I can think of. I will eventually lie and tell everyone that I was offered a scholarship and that I'm accepting it and going to Alaska."

"I'm missing something," Sebastian said.

"Oh, I found out that the guy who threatened to kill me last year before I came here, the same one who attacked me in the club and accosted me in the museum has ingratiated himself into my family and my home by befriending my lonely stepbrother. Blaine took his girlfriend - I mean they were broken up at the time, but only because Rachel had done something to intentionally anger him. But he would have taken her back within a few weeks. He always did. So, Blaine swooped in while they were broken up. Then, Finn stole Sam's girlfriend, only they broke up too. Then the football fiasco left him with no scouting options for college, and during the same time period Blaine took his position as lead in the New Directions."

"What? You never said it was the same guy from last year."

"That's because he threatened me. You can't tell anyone, Sebastian. You might be able to ID him from the club incident, but I'm guessing that he thinks you can't. Either way, you can't say anything to anyone or he'll implement his 'or else.'"

"I'd never do anything to hurt you."

"I know. So, anyway, this guy, J, who is making my life hell has turned himself into my stepbrother's closest friend. Very ingenious on his part. My stepbrother is oblivious. So, J is in New Directions and has completely 'reformed'. He's convinced my dad that he's a good guy now. He's the one Finn chose to invite to Florida for our family spring break trip."

"Oh, God."

"Yeah. So, needless to say, I cannot tell my family anything about my life now because J is at my house frequently. So, I'm telling my parents that I've chosen to apply to colleges in Alaska and Oregon this weekend. It's got to be every bit as expensive to fly to Alaska as it is to fly to France. So, if J continually hears my family talking about me going to Alaska, hopefully, he'll just give up on following me."

"Alright. I'll get my parents alone and explain to them that for your safety, we are telling everyone that we're going to Alaska for college. And that's the only plan your parents are going to know about."

"I'll tell my dad, too."

"No. Thad, you have to tell your parents that you are going to college in Boston or New York or wherever two good conservatories on the east coast are. I'm planning a long game now, just like J has been. Eventually, you and I are going to break up amicably because I get a scholarship to Alaska and you get into some prestigious east coast school. We're going to stay friends, but not boyfriends. This won't happen until almost the end of the school year though, after we've had time to really consider our college options. Everyone knows I am on scholarship here. They'll buy into a storyline that includes me going wherever I get a scholarship and you not being willing to attend a lesser school when you got into some big name places."

"That's going to take some serious acting skills on your parts." Sebastian said. "So, I'm going back to France, you're going to Alaska, and Thad's going to the East Coast? I'm not sure that some of the Warblers are going to buy the three of us splitting up and going completely different directions."

"I hate to do this to both of you," Kurt said. "I really do. But it's really important that we pull this off. We need everyone to think that we are being mature and making appropriate life choices. A lot of the guys here have to follow what their families have planned for them with no input of their own. So, us doing something like going our separate ways will not seem quite as foreign to them as we might think. Even if some of the guys here have been friends for four years, if their parents tell them where they're going, there are bound to be other best friends who end up split up with one at Harvard and one at Stanford."

"I get it," Sebastian said. "We follow our duty like good high-society men and we don't fuss and cry about it. We enjoy our friendship while we can knowing that high school ends and real life demands that we do our duty."

Thad spoke, "I think you're right. I think that there will be other couples, ones that haven't been open about their relationships that will be facing this exact scenario. I think if we just act mature about it that most everyone will buy it."

"So, why are you so determined to do this though?" Sebastian asked.

"Because at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if my dad and J's dad aren't doing guy things together. My dad talked like it was completely normal for J to be going on the trip with our family. He didn't even bother to ask me how I felt about it. It gave me the impression that he's spent enough time around J that he's 100% convinced that he's completely reformed. To be completely honest, he probably sees himself in J. My dad and J's dad talked when J got in trouble. J's dad referred to how he and my dad had treated homosexuals in high school. My dad was a jock. Plus, I never told my dad that J is gay or what he did besides threaten to kill me."

"So, you think this is permanent?"

"Seems that way. Finn won't ever leave Lima. If J continues to hang around Finn, and my dad and J's dad become buddies, then I've lost my family."

They sat in silence for a while. Kurt got up and took their baklava containers, rinsed them and dumped them in the trashcan.

"I think I'm going to shower." Kurt grabbed his pajamas and went into the bathroom.

"I'm going in there," Thad said. "I don't mean to ditch you, but he hasn't showered alone in nine months. For him to try to isolate himself a second time in one day - I just can't let him. He walked away from dinner and I gave him his space, but not this time."

"Go on. I'll just go out your door and back into my room. Lock the door behind me, then go in after him." Sebastian gathered up his books and left.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Kurt?"

"Yes?"

"Please turn the water off and help me into the shower with you."

The water turned off. Kurt slid the curtain back and grabbed the shower stool that he had removed from the shower and pulled it back in. Thad sat on the stool, took his brace off and slid back against the wall so that Kurt could close the shower curtain back. Kurt turned the water back on and handed the shower sprayer to Thad. Kurt grabbed Thad's shampoo. He gently washed Thad's hair, took the sprayer and rinsed it. He took the washcloth that Thad had brought with him and lathered it up and washed Thad thoroughly and rinsed him.

"Did you already do everything before I got in?"

"Yes."

"Can you hook the sprayer back up then?"

"Sure."

Thad reached and turned the water off. He leaned forward and kissed Kurt. Kurt pulled the curtain back and grabbed Thad's towel and handed it to him, and then grabbed his own. Kurt dried quickly, slipped his pajama pants on and helped Thad finish drying. Thad got his brace back on and wrapped his towel around his waist.

"I didn't grab any pajamas on the way in."

"Alright." Kurt hung his towel up and picked up their dirty clothes, which he dropped in the hamper on the way back into their room. "Do you want pajamas?"

"Not if you'll get in bed with me."

"I'm so far behind."

"Stay in the room tomorrow. I'll tell the nurse that you are still not feeling great, but you're better. I'll go to class and get notes from yesterday and take notes tomorrow. You can catch up on everything you fell behind on over the weekend."

"Alright." Kurt took his brace and put it on Thad's desk. He put the towel back in the bathroom and did some quick moisturizing. He grabbed some pajama pants and laid them on Thad's desk chair in case they needed to leave the room during the night. He turned all of the lights off, undressed, putting his pajamas with Thad's and grabbed the comforter from the other bed and put it on top of theirs so they'd be warm without any pajamas.

"Will you lie on me?"

"Half way or all the way?"

"Umm. Half way I guess, so we can actually fall asleep."

"Okay."

Thad turned to kiss him first. "Thank you."

"I'm not sure for what, but you're welcome." Kurt kissed him back.

Kurt let Thad get comfortable on his back and then he moved closer to him and laid his head on Thad's chest and put his right leg over Thad's and his right arm across Thad's chest. He ran his fingers through the side of Thad's hair.

Thad wrapped his arm around Kurt. "I love you."

"I love you too. I can't wait for spring break. You haven't changed your mind have you?"

"I'm not going to change my mind."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next few days consisted of a lot of studying, reading, and completing assignments for both Kurt and Thad. Sebastian was getting used to having training every day and adjusting his workload to accommodate for the time he was losing every day.

By Friday, Kurt and Thad had gotten all of their assignments turned in and were caught up and were working to complete Monday's assignments knowing that they'd have little to no time during the weekend to get it done with spending the weekend with their parents, an idea that Kurt now wished he had never had. The three of them were sitting on the beds in Kurt and Thad's room talking.

"I honestly wish we had never come up with this idea," Kurt said. 'Let's get all of our parents together and let them be friends with each other.' Great idea until I realized that I have to break up with Thad and unfriend Sebastian by the end of the school year. Now all five of them will just be more disappointed once they've met each other and all of us together. Ugh!"

"Are we never going to tell my dad that it was just a rouse?" Sebastian asked.

"We can't. He might let it slip to my dad since they've become friends and political allies."

"Oh. I guess I just figured we were going to tell him once I was back in France. Alright. I want you safe. I'll do whatever it takes."

"What about my parents?" Thad asked.

"We'll tell your parents the whole plan after this weekend, when they won't have any contact with my parents again. Once my parents think we've broken up in May, they wouldn't have any reason to try to contact your parents anyway. It's only because Sebastian's dad is staying here and will have continued contact with my dad that he can't know where I'm going or that we're together."

"This is going to be hard," Thad said.

"I know, which is why I said I wish that I had never come up with this idea at all."

"So, just to review. I am going to France, back to live in the home I grew up in. You two applied to colleges here in the States. For now, I won't say any locations at all. I'm going to be as vague as possible."

"That will work, Sebastian."

"I will get Carole alone and tell her that I've changed my mind and I'm going to go to college in the States somewhere. And so is Thad."

"I'll tell my parents that I applied to colleges here in the States as well, but only for this weekend. Next week, I'm calling them and tell them the truth and why I lied to them for the weekend."

Kurt's phone buzzed with a text. Kurt picked it up and dropped it on the bed.

"New plan. I'm staying here. I'm calling my dad now and telling him that I'm sick and that I will do everything in my power to be well enough to perform Sunday morning, but that I can't go out tomorrow and that he and Carole should just skip going to Art's and just wait until I call them Sunday morning to let them know whether to come here or not."

Before Thad or Sebastian could even ask any questions, Kurt had grabbed his phone and had gone into the bathroom all the way through to Sebastian's room and locked the bathroom door from Sebastian's side.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, kiddo. You don't sound too good.

"That's because I'm sick. You and Carole should just stay home tomorrow. I'll tell Art you aren't coming. I'll do my best to get well and be able to perform Sunday morning, but I'll call you by 8:00 Sunday morning, if I'm going to be well enough to perform. If you don't hear from me at 8:00, just stay in Lima."

"You said they have a nurse, right? She'll bring in a doctor or take you to one if you need one, right?"

"Of course."

"Well, I'm sorry your sick. Carole and I were looking forward to this weekend. We were packing when you called."

Kurt could hear people in the background. "It's noisy there."

"Yeah, all of the New Directions are here. Some up, some down, some in the living room. I've got the door shut, but they're pretty rowdy right now."

"I see. Well, hopefully I'll see you Sunday. I'll call at 8:00, if I'm well."

"I hope you are. We've been looking forward to seeing you perform. No one knows about Sunday morning. I kept it quiet like you said. I told Finn that you dropped out. He said the New Directions wouldn't be going anymore."

"Okay. Thanks, Dad. I'm going to get some sleep now."

"Alright, kiddo. Feel better."

"I'll do my best. Night, Dad."

"Good night."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Hello, Art."

"Good evening, Kurt."

"I'm calling to tell you that my parents won't be coming tomorrow. I've not spoken with Thad's parents, but it's possible that they won't be coming either. I'm sorry for inconveniencing you. At this rate, I'm going to owe you my whole first year's salary. I know you were having tomorrow's dinner catered and I'm sure it's too late to cancel."

"You were threatened again."

"You know I can't respond to that."

"I'm a lawyer, Kurt. I read people for a living. I will refrain from asking you anymore questions that cause you to feel the need to lie to me."

"Thank you. I'm sorry. I told you back last fall that Sebastian should make friends with someone else - that I wasn't a good choice. I'm not a good person for anyone to associate with. I'll have Thad call you after he's spoken with his parents. Since the whole family get together idea is a bust, they may just want to stay some place here in Westerville to be closer to Thad for the weekend since they only get to see him a few times a year."

"Alright, Kurt. I wish you trusted me enough to tell me what's going on."

"I do trust you, but I can't."

"Good night, Kurt."

"Good night."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Hey Kurt."

"Hi, Ellen. I'm calling to let you know that my parents won't be at Art's tomorrow, so if you'd rather come spend the day at Dalton, I can arrange that. You could grab a hotel room in Westerville for tomorrow evening. I'm sorry for the last minute change of plans."

"Alright. We'll come to the school tomorrow morning. I'm not sure what we'll do all day, but we want to see you and Thad."

"Just call when you get close so Thad can go down and ID you for the guards to let you in."

"Alright, honey. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt walked back through the bathroom into his room. He sat back down on his bed, but said nothing. Within a couple of minutes, his phone buzzed. He looked at the text and put his phone back to sleep, then looked at it again and powered it down completely.

He put his hand out. Thad looked at him strangely. Kurt looked at his phone and then held his hand out closer to Thad. Thad pointed to his desk. Kurt got up and powered Thad's phone down. Sebastian saw what he had done and powered his own phone down. Kurt took both of their phones and his own and walked back through the bathroom, opened one of Sebastian dresser drawers and put the phones in between some pairs of sweatpants. He walked over to Sebastian's iPod dock and turned his ipod on. He went back through the bathroom closing both doors behind him.

"What was that all about?" Sebastian asked.

"I don't honestly know, but it was the only thing I could think of to make myself feel better right this minute."

"What did you do with our phones?"

"They're in Sebastian's dresser with his sweatpants. I turned his iPod on too."

"We heard," Thad said.

"I'm just feeling completely paranoid. I figure this has something to do with Blaine and not our phones, but I'm so on edge, I couldn't take a chance."

"What happened?"

"I got a text from an unknown number. It said "I know about you leaving school to see your parents and I know about Sunday morning."

"Creepy."

"Exactly. My dad even made a point of telling me that he hadn't mentioned Sunday morning to anyone when I called him a few minutes ago. He was in his room with the door shut."

"And the second text?" Thad asked.

"Get well soon."

"What?" Sebastian asked.

"I called my parents and cancelled our visit for this weekend and told them that I'm sick. So, obviously, my dad said something within J's hearing range about them staying home for the weekend instead of seeing me."

"So, he's at your house right now?" Thad asked.

"I don't think it's my house anymore."

"What did you tell your dad?" Sebastian asked.

"I told him I'd call him Sunday morning at 8:00 if I was well enough to perform in the show, so they'd have enough time to drive over here to see it."

"Okay. So are you not performing Sunday morning?" Thad asked.

"I don't know what to do. I called your dad and your parents too. I told your dad that I was sorry my parents couldn't come and that I'd call him back about Thad's parents, which I still need to do or you can. Your parents are coming to the school tomorrow, to do what, I have no idea, but they'll call when they're close so you can meet them at security.

"Alright. What do you want me to tell my dad?"

"That Thad's parents are going to come to the school and stay in a hotel in Westerville since my parents aren't coming."

"Okay. I'll go do that before it gets any later. I'll power my phone back down when I hang up."

Thad scooted closer to Kurt and took Kurt's hand and interlaced their fingers. He turned toward him and put his other hand on the side of Kurt's face. He gently turned his head and placed a gentle kiss on Kurt's lips.

Sebastian came back into the room, catching just the end of the kiss and sat on the other bed. "I called him. I'm still being picked up tomorrow morning. My dad still wants me to come home for the weekend."

"Alright," Kurt said.

"So what makes you think Blaine has something to do with this?"

"He's there all the time too. He's still friends with quite a few of the Warblers, including the ones in the musical. I'm sure one of them let it slip that we were doing a student-only show Sunday morning. You know, maybe he suggested that they go out for lunch at 11:00 or something since the show doesn't start until 2:00. And maybe whoever he was talking to said, 'Oh, we can't do that, we're doing a 10:30 students-only showing where Kurt and Thad will be performing since they couldn't perform this week."

"I can see one of them doing that. They still trust Blaine. They wouldn't even consider that he has been part of the problem," Thad said.

"Exactly. So, Blaine ends up knowing and doesn't even think twice about repeating the information, loving to have insider information like he does. He blabs knowing that the New Directions will be glad you're getting a chance to perform. So, J hears and has somehow gotten your phone number and texts you telling you to drop out and stay on campus because he's heard your dad or Carole or Finn talking about your parents meeting or visiting you," Thad suggests.

"That's what I'm figuring. I don't think our phones are bugged. I just freaked out and didn't want them near me."

"I can understand that," Sebastian said.

"I need to get a new phone number, one that no one knows. And I think for spring break, instead of the road trip, we'll just fly to Buffalo Friday night. We'll get the license, see the sights, and be at the courthouse when it opens. If we fly out, everyone will just think we're going wherever I usually go that no one has figured out yet."

"Alright. Let me check flights," Sebastian said. He went to get his laptop.

"We will still have to go to the original location to get the license because the office isn't open in Buffalo on Saturdays. That's why I had found another place to get the license when I first started researching."

"That's just going to be tricky, trying to get out of school early," Thad said.

"I know, but with as much stuff has been messed up for me, I bet they'd let us."

Sebastian came back in. "What if we just have the car service drive us to the airport like we're flying out and then rent the car there and just drive away. Anyone following us would give up when we get out at the airport because no one without tickets can get past the security."

"I guess that would work. Let's compare. How long does it say the flight is?" Kurt asked.

"The cheap ones have layovers. So, three and a half hours it looks like."

"Yikes. Okay. So two hours advance arrival, plus three and a half, equals five and a half to get to Buffalo, then it's about one and a half more to where we need to go. So, like seven hours. It's a three hour and 45 minute drive from the airport."

"So, it would take a lot less time to just drive there," Thad said.

"Mmm hmm." Kurt was still thinking. "I think we take the car service to the airport and then drive ourselves. Sebastian's right. I really don't think anyone will stick around once they see us go into the flight drop off area. We'll just walk from there to the car rental area and pick up a car there rather than from a place here in Westerville where someone might tail the town car and see that we've been dropped off at a car rental company."

"Okay," Sebastian said. "You're the mastermind."

"We already have tickets out of Buffalo on Monday. I already made reservations for Friday night, but if we want to leave super early Saturday, we could skip the room on Friday night. We'd need to get picked up at 5:00 in the morning."

"I guess there's less of a chance of anyone seeing us leave then," Thad said.

"Alright then, I'll cancel the room for Friday night after I'm certain that the car service can come that early. We'll stay in Buffalo Saturday and Sunday night."

"I know this needs confirmed, but what are you going to do about Sunday morning? The only reason the school is doing the Sunday morning production was so that your parents and Thad's parents could see you two perform. And now you're not going to?"

"I want to, but maybe you Jeff and I can work out a time to go down to the auditorium and Thad can film us doing one of the scenes so that I can send it in with my applications this week. I had been holding off on sending them in even thought they're due next week because I thought I could use footage from the show as part of my applications. I already have the musical pieces recorded."

"I'm sure that Jeff will help you out. We just need someone to put the music through the sound system too. We'll find someone and we'll do it Sunday morning after the show since everything will already be set up. I'll can get it all arranged," Sebastian said. "But I don't honestly see why you can't go ahead and perform. You were told not to leave the school. You'd still be in the school. Is there a way for you insure that your parents won't say a word to anyone?"

They continued their conversations about both issues for a while and eventually went back to working on schoolwork since Sebastian was going to be gone all day Saturday and more than likely Thad would be too. While Thad and Sebastian read, Kurt went into Sebastian's room and looked through his clothes.

"Can you do me a favor?" Kurt asked Sebastian.

"Sure."

"When your out with your dad tomorrow, can you go somewhere and get a dark green button up shirt? Kohl's or Macy's should have one."

"Sure. Why do I need one?"

"For the wedding. I know green's your favorite color and it looks really good on you, but you don't have a dressy green shirt from what I could see in your closet."

"I'll get one."

"Thanks. You can wear one of my vests and your black slacks."

"Sounds good." Sebastian picked his books up.

"When are you leaving?"

"9:00."

"Grab us on your way down to breakfast, okay?"

"You got it. I'm heading to bed. Those lacrosse training sessions are still kicking my butt."

Kurt laughed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next day was a tough day for Kurt. Sebastian and Thad left after breakfast. He was alone for the first time in a long time and he had to continually refocus his mind. He did all of their laundry, even Sebastian's since he left the door between the bathroom and his room unlocked. He packed his and Thad's summer clothes for the trip to Florida. He chose shirts, vests and ties for all of them for the wedding. He polished their dress shoes.

He gave himself a facial, a manicure, and a pedicure. He dusted and straightened every shelf and drawer. He looked through his shoes. Now that he had so few clothes, he decided he had too many shoes. Some of the shoes went with specific outfits that he no longer had.

He tried all of them on and considered how often he would wear them and only kept less than half of them. He put the ones he was going to eliminate in a box to sell the next time he had a chance.

He looked up international flights and the luggage allowances. He went back through his shoes a second time and added a few more pairs to the box. He decided that he'd asked Sebastian which of his coats would be most functional and sell the ones he didn't need.

It still wasn't even dinnertime and Kurt had run out of things to do. He looked his assignments for the upcoming week and started reading ahead and answering the assigned questions.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Later that evening, Kurt got a text from Sebastian.

To Kurt: It's all set for tomorrow. Jeff will stay after the performance. Nick will record us. Richard will run the sound. We'll perform the scene we talked about. See you tomorrow morning.

From Kurt: Thank you. I miss you. I hope you're at least having fun.

To Kurt: I suppose so. I did get a shirt like you wanted me to. I got some new trainers. I got cleats too since I don't have any here.

From Kurt: So, shopping without me? Boo.

To Kurt: I'm sure it would have been a lot more fun if you had come. See you tomorrow.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

It wasn't until nearly 9:00 that Thad came back. Kurt heard him unlocking the door and got up from reading. Thad opened the door and nearly dropped the bags he had when Kurt threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Let me sit these down," Thad said as he turned to put the bags on the end of their bed. He pushed the door shut behind him and pulled his coat off and put it on the bed as well. He reached out for Kurt and wrapped his arms around his neck and Kurt nuzzled his nose into Thad's neck.

"I missed you so much." He began kissing Thad and slowly pushed him back against the door. He slid his arms down Thad's sides and pulled his shirt untucked and slipped his hands up the back of Thad's shirt. After several minutes, they broke apart for air and Kurt started kissing Thad's neck. Kurt moved his hands around to the front of Thad's shirt and began unbuttoning Thad's shirt. Once he had it unbuttoned the cuffs, he slid it off Thad's shoulders and put it on the bed. Thad managed to grab ahold of the bottom of Kurt's hoodie and pulled it over his head. "Shower, then snuggle?"

"Definitely."

They moved directly into the bathroom and continued kissing and touching the whole time.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Get dressed in sweats for now. I want to show you what I brought back. Then we'll get in bed," Thad said as they came out of the bathroom in towels.

"Alright," Kurt said. He grabbed some clothes and put them on quickly and put their towels back in the bathroom.

He came back out and found Thad emptying the contents of one of the bags onto the dresser. It was full of their regular products, enough to last for the rest of the semester it looked like. Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad's torso while he was emptying the bag.

Kurt looked through everything while Thad was pulling things out. "Thanks. You got everything I needed."

"I did a quick inventory before I left this morning and I was smart enough to take a picture of the bathroom shelf and circle which things you needed."

"Gorgeous and smart," Kurt said as he kissed the back of Thad's neck. He let go of him so he could grab another bag, but he followed him. "Mmm. That one looks like it has treats in it."

"It does. One fancy chocolate bar for each of us for each week of school that we have left."

"That sounds decadent and tasty."

"That's the whole point." Thad turned and kissed him.

"What's that?" Kurt pointed to a sporting goods store bag.

"Oh, I found out that it won't hurt my brace to get it wet, but the sand could damage it. Mom got me a wet suit and the shoes to go with it. I'm going to show it to the physical therapist Tuesday and see if it's okay for me to wear to the beach. I want to be able to walk along the beach with you this time. Hopefully, this will work."

"That would be cool if it does. You went to the Apple store?"

"Yep. Sit down and close your eyes. And hold your hands out."

Kurt did as requested.

Thad pulled a box and another item out of the bag and put them in Kurt's hands. "Open your eyes."

"An iPhone 5? With 64GB? And a case?"

"It's for you. My parents added you to our plan. Now, no one will know your new number and you can store every CD you own on it and listen to anything you want any time you want."

"Seriously? It's mine?"

"Yes. It's yours. I got you the black one and a dark red case. I hope you like it."

"Of course, I like it." Kurt sat them down on the bed next to him. He stood up and wrapped his arms around Thad. "Thank you." He pulled him close and held him. "It's amazing. I'm sure it can dance circles around my iphone 3G." He let Thad go. "I had to buy it myself used because my 4G was still under contract, and the last time it got knocked out of my hands was when I ran after J to confront him. When I came back to get my stuff, my phone was gone. I had to pay out the contract on it. I had bought insurance for damage, but not theft or loss. So, I bought a used 3G to replace it since it was cheap compared to another 4G. Plus, they look alike to my dad and he didn't notice that it was a different phone."

"The missing one isn't still under contract is it?"

"No, the contract ended the end of June last year. My dad's just been paying the monthly bill on my plan since I came to Dalton. I had been paying it before he and Carole got married."

"I remember."

"But I'll call and have the phone turned off and taken off my dad's plan since there's no contract anymore."

"That should stop the unwanted and threatening texts."

"Thank you. I'll call your parents after I get it all set up and thank them too. I'm going to send myself screen shots of my contacts list. That way I can get someone's number if I need to, but I don't run any risk of accidentally calling anyone and having someone end up with my new number."

"Good idea. Brilliant and beautiful." Thad kissed him.

"What else is in the bags?"

"Just a few things like socks and underwear. Mine are getting a little ratty."

"I'll wash them tomorrow. I did all of the laundry earlier."

"Oh, I didn't notice since there's no rack in here. Thank you." He turned and kissed Kurt.

"It's in Sebastian's room. Since he wasn't here, I figured he wouldn't care if I used his room. I washed his clothes too."

"You were really lonely." Thad put his arms back around Kurt and hugged him.

"I'm really glad you're back. Keeping the dark thoughts away is harder when I'm alone. I cleaned everything. I organized everything. I resorted my shoes. I did a lot of schoolwork."

"Did you eat?"

Kurt answered quietly, "Not since breakfast. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He pulled back and let Kurt go. "Let me get this stuff put away or we'll have to sleep in the other bed."

Kurt let loose. He looked toward the bed and smiled. "I'm going to set my phone up and put the case on it while you put that stuff away."

Thad started emptying the bags. He grabbed his phone when Kurt wasn't looking and texted Jeff quickly when he put some stuff in the bathroom. He continued putting things away until all of the surfaces in the room were cleaned off and the trash was all in the trashcan.

Kurt got up and put the packaging from his case in the trash and put the phone box in his sock drawer. "I like the earpods. They have better sound quality than the other headphones I have. I'll hook it up to my laptop tomorrow and transfer all of the stuff my iTunes account to the phone."

"You could do it tonight since you're not using your computer for schoolwork right now."

"You're right." Kurt pulled his desk chair out and started his laptop up. "I love the large storage capacity. I'll be able to leave my iPod hooked up to the dock and just take my phone with me."

Thad fiddled around with stuff in his closet and his dresser. He pulled out a few pairs of socks with holes and tossed them into the trashcan. He restacked the remaining socks leaving room for the new ones. Once Kurt had his phone hooked to his laptop and synched them, he grabbed a textbook and approached Kurt. "Be my snuggle chair?"

"Sure. I'll grab my old phone and listen to some music while you read." Kurt picked up the new earpods and his old phone and waited for Thad to finish fluffing and piling the pillows up. He got comfortable on the bed and opened his legs for Thad to sit in between them. Thad took his brace off, pushed himself back and got comfortable. He bent his knees and propped the textbook up to read. Kurt pulled him as close as he could and wrapped his arms around him. He struggled with keeping himself from kissing Thad's neck, but he was trying to let Thad get his reading done.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

About 30 minutes later, there was a knock on their door. Kurt maneuvered himself off the bed without kicking Thad and went to the door. "Who is it?"

"Nick and Jeff."

Kurt opened the door to be greeted by the smiling faces of his friends holding a pizza and some drinks.

"It seems that the pizza fairies have come, Thad. You wouldn't know how the pizza fairies ended up here would you?"

Thad just smiled.

"Come in, come in. You grace us with your presence oh, glorious pizza fairies," Kurt said in a deep voice, bowing as they came in.

Jeff ruffled his hair while he was leaned over and laughed. "Eat this pizza with us, fine sir, if you please?"

"Most definitely."

"It looks like the pizza fairies aren't your only visitors today. It looks like the deep cleaning fairy has been here too. This room belongs on the cover of _House Beautiful - Dorm Edition_ ," Jeff said.

"I had a lot of time on my hands today."

"Well, if you're ever bored again, I'll give you the key to our room for the afternoon," Nick offered.

"I think I'll pass," Kurt laughed. "I'm not sure there is enough boredom out there to make me want to clean someone else's room."

"Darn," Nick laughed. "It was worth a shot."

Jeff put the pizza box and the drinks on the floor and he and Nick sat up against the extra bed facing Thad, who was leaned up against their bed. Kurt sat down next to Thad.

"What's in the sack?" Kurt asked.

"Oh, the brownies and the napkins," Nick said as he got the napkins out, opened the pizza box, and put them on the lid.

"Thanks for being willing to help me tomorrow morning," Kurt said.

Thad looked confused.

"Oh, Sebastian talked to them and they're going to stay after the morning performance. Nick is going video me, Jeff and Sebastian doing a scene with me so I can at least a small bit of evidence of my work on the musical."

"Great. Thanks," Thad said. "I'll end up going out with my parents for lunch afterwards."

"Your parents are coming?" Nick asked.

"Yep. It's the first time they've been in Ohio during any kind of performance. I'm excited."

"I bet. I know you've wished they could come for other things."

"This time, they're here. That's why Kurt was so bored that he cleaned everything today. I was gone all day with my parents. It was supposed to be all of us, but Kurt couldn't leave."

"I hate whoever is doing this to you," Jeff said. "It's so unfair. You're such a nice person. I mean if people have to be mean, why can't they be mean to other mean people?"

"I need to ask the two of you something." Kurt said.

"That sounds ominous," Nick said as he took another bite.

"Well, it's not an easy thing to ask."

"Go ahead."

"Do you two still talk to Blaine? And tell him stuff about the Warblers? And the school?"

"Not after the incident in Columbus," Nick said. "Jeff and I talked about why you reacted the way you did when you saw Jeff's Facebook post. We realized that Jeff had inadvertently let someone at McKinley know your whereabouts that evening and we saw how that ended for you."

"I'm really sorry about that, you know. I didn't think. I would never do anything intentionally that would get you hurt."

"I know, Jeff. I wasn't angry with you."

"Thanks. We realized that because Blaine could see our posts, friends of his could see his posts and either someone on his friends list or a friend of a friend absolutely doesn't need any information about the Warblers or you. Nick and I unfriended him after that. I don't think he's noticed."

"Well, someone is still feeding him information within the group of Warblers that's in the musical. He is unintentionally giving someone information about me. I don't want to ask anyone else because I don't want to draw attention to the fact that I'm looking for his source."

Nick said, "Why don't we just ask David to make an announcement Monday at rehearsal that no Warbler related business should be discussed with students who are not Warblers? Preparation is the key to winning and it's never possible to keep things under wraps if members are talking about our competitions, trips, or set lists to people outside our group. It makes all of our effort meaningless if we give away our set list or how we're preparing."

"That's an idea," Thad said. "We could even take a vote or write a new by-law for the group baring the dissemination of Warbler-related info on any social media or to anyone outside the club."

"If I had to place a bet," Nick said, "my bet is on Trent. He has always had a soft spot for Blaine. I don't know why really. Maybe he reached out to Trent when he joined as a freshman. He was the most upset to find out that Blaine wasn't coming back and he's always the most excited when Blaine comes to visit."

"I don't think Trent has a mean bone in his body and I don't think he can even really fathom the depth of evil in some people's hearts. He seemed genuinely distraught last spring when I spoke up at the Warblers party Thad and I arranged - the first one I had been to. I think there's a good chance you're right, Nick. I think he would just talk to Blaine like he is still a Warbler. I don't think Blaine is intentionally giving out the info so that I get hurt. I think he honestly believes that the people he's sharing the info with mean me no harm."

"But obviously, something is going on that you're not telling us," Nick said.

"I can't," Kurt said.

Thad added, "If we want Kurt leading us at the a cappella competition, we need to keep our plans 100% in our group. And we're putting a lot of trust in the two of you to keep this to yourselves."

"Yeah, we get that," Jeff said. "I may be hyper and act a little crazy sometimes, but I'm not a flake."

"We know, Jeff. We know. We would have never invited you to spend the summer with us if we thought that," Kurt replied.

"That information is absolutely not to be shared with anyone," Thad reminded them.

"We got it. It's serious. We're trustworthy and can keep secrets," Nick said.

"Can I ask you two something?" Kurt said.

"Sure," they said in unison.

"How long have the two of you known each other?"

"Our whole lives," Nick answered.

"Our dads went to school together, here actually. They went to Harvard, married girls from Harvard, and moved back here and opened a law firm in Columbus. We live down the street from each other," Jeff added.

"We're the youngest in our families," Jeff said. "I have a sister who's a junior in college."

"And she's roommates with my sister, who is also in college, but is a sophomore."

"That's really wild," Thad said.

"It's cool. If I had had a best friend since I was a baby basically, that would have made so much of a difference."

"I can't imagine Nick not being around."

"Same for me with Jeff."

"Did you apply to the same colleges?"

"Yep."

They finished off the pizza.

Kurt smiled. "Thanks for the pizza. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome," Nick said.

Kurt grabbed the box and went out to the hall trash and dumped it and came back. When he got back, Thad handed him his brownie.

"These are really good," Kurt said. "We've never ordered any brownies from a pizza place."

"I don't even remember how we found out, but we order them every time from this place now," Jeff said.

"I can see why."

"We need another baking day. That was fun," Jeff said. "We'll have to figure out when we can do it again." He stood up and pulled Nick up. "We need to get some sleep since we have that performance in the morning. We'll see you tomorrow."

Kurt got up to lock the door behind them. "Thanks again. See you tomorrow." After they left, he walked over and grabbed the sack and the rest of the trash and threw it in the trashcan.

He leaned over, slid Thad's legs out in front of him, then knelt straddling Thad's lap without putting any weight on Thad's legs. He leaned down and Thad looked up. "You are a very, very sneaky wonderful person. Thank you." He kissed him gently. He stood back up and helped Thad get back up.

Thad made a quick trip to the bathroom and got in bed.

"Minty fresh. I should do that as well. All the sugar from that brownie on my teeth won't be good for them." Kurt came back, turned the lights off and got in bed only to realize that he was vastly over dressed. He laughed, got back up, undressed grabbed the comforter from the other bed, put it on their bed and got back in.

"Much better," Thad said. He turned onto his side and Kurt did the same.

"Thank you for taking care of me when I do a bad job of it." Kurt ran his hand through Thad's hair and down his neck, gently pulling him in for gentle kisses that turned quite passionate very quickly.

Between kisses, Thad said, "Always."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning Kurt called Carole. He explained to her that they needed to leave the house in silence, and not say anything to anyone about what they were doing.

"If you can swear to me that you and Dad can get up, not wake anyone up, and drive here with NO one finding out where you've gone, you can come. And you also have to swear to never talk about it at home."

"Alright, honey. You sound incredibly distraught, but we do want to see you perform. Burt and I will leave. We're already dressed and showered, in case you called. We'll eat on the way there."

"Headmaster Carlson will meet you at 10:00 so the guards will let you in. Don't be late, please."

"We'll be there, honey."

Kurt and Thad headed down to breakfast and then to the auditorium for warm-ups and to get dressed.

About 150 students, plus a few faculty members, the headmaster and the five parents attended the performance. The doors to the lobby had guards posted on the auditorium side and the exterior doors were kept locked.

Once the performance had ended, everyone left except Sebastian, Nick, Jeff, Richard, and Liam, who played Jojo because he was the smallest Warbler at only 5'2". Everyone else had been escorted out of the auditorium.

Liam, Sebastian, and Jeff performed "Day for the Cat in the Hat" with Kurt. Mr. Browning ran the lighting panel presets for the song, while Richard operated the sound for the song. Everyone put their face mics on and got in their places. They sang the song through. Kurt did the dance he had choregraphed for himself, including the flips and soft shoe tap dancing. He pulled out all of the stops. Jeff and Sebastian did a great job performing the dance that they had created to go along with Kurt's.

Once they had finished, Nick checked the recording to make sure it was as good as it could be. He gave Kurt his phone back. Kurt thanked everyone and they changed back into their uniforms.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt changed and went to the small office where he had met with his parents back in the fall and with the police officers more recently. The headmaster had food from the cafeteria brought in and served in the office for the three of them.

"Kurt, honey, you did a great job!" Carole said as he came in the room.

"Thanks," he said with a sad smile on his face. He was still feeling both the excitement of getting to perform mixed with the sadness that it had only been the once. "You cannot tell a living soul that you came here and I went ahead and performed. This never happened."

"What is going on, Kurt?"

"I CAN'T tell you. I need you to stop asking. I probably shouldn't have performed, but I REALLY wanted to. I worked so hard on this. But if the person or people threatening me find out, it won't be good. So far, everything I've told you has ended up being known by the people who don't need to know. This is the last chance. If they find out again this time, I just won't be able to see you anymore."

"This is ridiculous, Kurt. Why won't you just tell us what's going on? There has to be something we can do."

"What you can do is pretend that this never happened, but privately be glad that you came. I don't have any other suggestions."

"Honey, we won't say a word to anyone."

"I've heard that before, yet people knew. I'm not saying that one of you said something, but I can't seem to stop the leak of information about what I'm doing. But I don't want to talk about that anymore. Let's eat. You need to head back soon and come up with a reason why you've been gone."

Kurt got Burt to talk about what he'd been doing in DC while they ate. When they finished, Kurt hugged them both and they were escorted out of the building in time to avoid anyone who was attending the afternoon show from seeing them leave.

Kurt stayed in the library for the afternoon. He browsed through different sections. He pulled out a book about French architecture and took it to a table in the back. He put his earpods in and listened to the music that Thad had composed and recorded for him as he looked through the book and read about places that he wanted to go see someday, hopefully in the next year.

Once the second performance was over, Sebastian came to find him in the library like they had agreed to earlier. Sebastian took his book and smiled. Kurt took the book and left it on the reshelve cart. The two of them headed to the dorm.

Once they were in Sebastian's room, he pulled Kurt into a hug. "You were fantastic. I'm so sad that you didn't get to perform with us all week. The kids missed out. That's for sure. Michael did a good job, don't get me wrong, but you were so much better."

"Thanks. I'm glad Nick did the video. I worked really hard and added a lot of flair and movement to the part that Michael just doesn't have the skills to do. I had a lot of fun working on it. At least I have the video. I need to get everything sent in this week. It's so weird that the applications are due so late. And the wait is so long. I know it's because the school year there ends so much later than ours, but the wait will be agonizing. I just hope I get in somewhere. It will be really hard if I end up getting rejected from all of the places I apply to. I don't have the IB diploma and my first two years of classes were a joke."

"If you don't get in, you can reapply. You can visit schools and find a place that's a good fit for you."

"You're right. I need to try to be positive. It's getting harder and harder."

"I know. Why is your clothes rack in my room?"

"Oh, I was so lonely and bored yesterday that I did our laundry and yours. Since you weren't here I used the space in your room for the rack. I cleaned both rooms too. Look around - no dust to be found. I hope you're not freaked out. I didn't think about it being an invasion of privacy. I had to keep moving."

"I asked you to live with me. That should tell you that I'm perfectly fine with you being in my space. And thanks for doing my laundry and cleaning my room. It looks great."

"Jeff said that our room looked like it belong on the cover of _House Beautiful - Dorm Edition_."

Sebastian laughed. "Is that really a magazine?"

"Not that I've ever heard of."

"Well, it's funny."

"It was. They also offered to loan me the key to their room the next time I was bored. I turned them down. They came down because Thad got them to bring a pizza last night when he got me to confess that I hadn't eaten since breakfast."

"Good for him."

Kurt smiled. "Grab anything that's yours and put it on your chair and help me carry this through the bathroom back into our room and it will be out of your way. Your stuff should be dry."

They carried the rack into Kurt and Thad's room and went back to Sebastian's room.

"The pizza delivery wasn't the only thing he did for me. Look," he said as he pulled the new phone out of his pocket. "He got his parents to get me a new phone and added me to their plan. I'm going to text you, but you need to put me in your phone as something besides Kurt."

Sebastian fiddled with his phone for a few minutes before clicking on the text. After he opened it, he added Kurt's number to his contact list.

"Let me see."

Sebastian showed him.

" _Loup Poli_? Polite wolf?"

"I looked up the meaning of 'Kurt'. Courteous and polite was one and the other was wolf. I figured the combination actually suits you perfectly."

Kurt laughed. "It's great. I'll text you in French. People can make their own assumptions if they see over your shoulder."

"I'm glad he got you the phone. I hated it that J, as you're calling him now, could text you. Why are you calling him J anyway?"

"'J' for jackass."

Sebastian laughed. "I see. Did you turn your other phone off?"

"Not yet. I'm not sure what to do about my dad. I want him to be able to get a hold of me, but I don't want him to have my new number. I haven't figured out what to do yet."

"I get it. Is Thad coming back any time soon?"

"I don't know."

"Do you want to watch a movie?"

"Sure."

They found a French movie on Amazon to watch and fluffed the pillows and settled in for the afternoon.

Thad returned a little before dinnertime and the three of them went down to dinner together.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next week the three of them studied, rehearsed, and packed. Thad and Kurt's excitement grew as the week went on, but they did their best to stay focused. Between studying, they finished packing, which didn't take much for Thad and Kurt since Kurt had worked on it the day that Thad and Sebastian were gone. They were ready for spring break to start.


	21. Chapter 21

Saturday morning started long before it was light outside. The car service arrived at 5:00 to drive them to the airport. They left not wearing coats so their rouse of flying out to Florida looked convincing. The car service dropped them off at the passenger drop off. They got out, went inside, and walked all the way through the airport to the car rental area and picked up the keys to the car they had rented. They opened the suitcase they had put their three coats in and put them on and loaded all of their luggage in the trunk.

Kurt was the only driver insured to drive the car, so he got in the driver's seat. Thad took the passenger seat and Sebastian got in the backseat. They drove out of the car rental area at 5:45 and it was still dark outside. The darkness helped Kurt feel more confident that no one could tell that it was him in the car. Plus, he had borrowed one of Jeff's knitted winter hats with earflaps with braided tassels hanging down, something he would never usually willingly wear.

Four hours later, they parked and headed into the Ripley courthouse to get a marriage license. They had all of the documents they needed. All they needed to do was fill out the forms and pay the fee, which only took a few minutes. They took a seat on a nearby bench and waited for their names to be called to pick the license up. Once they had it, they were back out in the car headed to Buffalo.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt drove them directly to the first destination on their itinerary - the Pierce Arrow Museum.

"A car museum?" Sebastian asked.

"You're forgetting that Kurt is a mechanic."

"Right. So, let's go then."

"It has a full-size gas station inside that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright."

"Well that sounds cool." Thad said.

They went inside and spent two hours looking at the cars and other vehicles and the exhibits. The filling station was really interesting.

"Well, you get a 10/10 on the museum I didn't think I'd like when we pulled up. That was really cool," Sebastian said.

Kurt wrapped his arm around Sebastian's shoulders. "Good. I'm glad you liked it. Hop in. We're going somewhere else."

Kurt pulled into an Arby's so they could all get something to eat before going to the next place. A little while later, they pulled into the lot of a gorgeous domed building.

"A garden?" Thad asked as they got out of the car.

"Yes. I've never been to anything like this and the pictures were beautiful," Kurt said raising up on his toes like he did when he got excited.

"Well, then let's go see the flowers," Sebastian said. He had been to botanical gardens before in Paris, but Kurt looked so excited that he couldn't bear to be anything but enthusiastic

It was amazing inside. More flowers and plants than Kurt had ever imagined even existed. He took lots of photos with his new phone. Thad caught Sebastian watching Kurt come alive again and nodded discretely.

When Kurt had walked over to take a closer look at something, Sebastian whispered, "He's more fun to look at than the flowers."

Thad nodded and smiled. "I hate what those jackasses in Ohio do to him. He was like this at school last year, after we started dating. He had opened up to everyone and the Warblers started including him. This is the Kurt I saw every day all day long last summer. Every place we went to over the summer - the Zoo, the museums, the library, even the mall when we didn't spend a penny. The day we went to Lima and got thrown in that dumpster with him they stole away part of the man I love. I hate them so much sometimes. And then I remind myself to stop because he's still in there. All of him. I just have to be patient. Three months and we can take him away where he can be himself, all of himself."

They saw him approaching and Thad stopped talking.

"Come here. You can't see this really cool red flower unless you stand over here."

They followed him and looked suitably impressed given Kurt's level of enthusiasm. Kurt smiled.

They toured all 10 areas of the garden before they headed to their hotel. Kurt talked about the flowers non-stop on the way there.

They checked into their room. Kurt hung up the outfits they were wearing for the ceremony on Monday. He had even brought his steamer to use on them if the wrinkles didn't come out by then.

"So, now what?" Kurt asked.

"Why are you asking us?" Sebastian answered.

"Well, I did all of the sightseeing planning and that's done for the day. Nothing like that is open at night. So, what do we want to do now?"

"Well, we could go swimming in the hotel pool." Thad said.

"Sounds fun, except I didn't bring swim trunks," Sebastian said.

"Oh, I have more than one pair with me," Thad said. "You can wear a pair of mine."

"Alright then, let's get changed," Sebastian said.

"First, don't we want to eat?"

"True. Good idea. Here or go somewhere?"

"I'd rather not drive around anymore. I've done a lot of driving already today. Let's just go outside and look around and see if there's anything that looks good. If not, we can order a Domino's pizza or something and have it delivered. We can find a nice place to try tomorrow. Mostly I just don't want to go to bed hungry."

They headed back to the elevator and stepped outside. "It looks like pizza to me," Thad said.

They went back up to the room and took turns changing. They decided to go ahead and swim first and order a pizza afterwards.

When they got back from the swimming, they ordered the pizza. Sebastian showered first and went down to wait for it to be delivered, giving Kurt and Thad some privacy for a few minutes. They got in the shower and took advantage of Sebastian's offer to wait downstairs. By the time Sebastian came back up with the pizza, Thad was propped up against the head of the bed and Kurt was back in the bathroom doing his moisturizing.

"You should buy stock on those potions," he said as he walked past the bathroom on the way in.

"Hey, be nice. I like him all soft."

Sebastian laughed. He grabbed the desk chair and pulled it between the beds and put the pizza box on it and opened it. Kurt came out and they practically inhaled the pizza.

"I was hungrier than I thought," Kurt said.

"I'd say," Sebastian said. "I don't think I've ever seen you eat so fast."

"Well, I'm happy and excited. I've been looking forward to this trip for ages."

"You only asked him two weeks ago," Sebastian pointed out.

"That doesn't mean that I only started thinking about it then."

"Point taken."

"So, tomorrow?" Thad asked.

"Niagara Falls. It's supposed to be nice weather for this time of year."

"Anywhere else?" Sebastian asked.

"You'll have to wait and see," Kurt answered, sticking out his tongue.

"I suppose I will." Sebastian laughed. Sassy Kurt was always a hoot. Sebastian always tried to stay on the side of the line of just barely irritating Kurt. He was on his best behavior for the weekend since it was such an important event for him and Thad. He grabbed the pizza box and moved the chair back to the desk and folded the box and put it in the trashcan.

"This hotel has an all-you-can-eat hot breakfast, so we're doing that first."

"I hope they have turkey bacon," Thad said.

"If not, I'll buy you some when we get to Florida and make it for you," Kurt teased.

"My hero," Thad said batting his eyes.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I don't want to get up super early, but how about we leave at 8:00. Is that too early?"

"Not if we go to sleep now," Thad said.

"Then to sleep we shall go!" Kurt said in his best super hero voice.

Sebastian hit him with a pillow.

"Sleep, Sebastian," Kurt said in his most soothing hypnotic voice. "Sleep." He moved his hands around in a swirling motion like he was putting a spell on Sebastian.

Sebastian allowed himself to limply fall over onto the bed.

Kurt stood up to turn the light off and once his back was turned, Sebastian took him by surprise and grabbed him and tossed him onto his bed and started tickling him.

"Let me up." Kurt squalked. "Stop."

Sebastian stopped immediately. Kurt took the advantage and flipped them and started tickling Sebastian.

"I give, I give. You win!"

"Say it."

"You're the best tickler of all time," he said in flat monotone.

"Say it like you mean it."

"You're the BEST tickler of ALL time," he said like a 6 year old girl.

"Sebastian!"

Kurt has lost his focus and Sebastian flipped them back. "Ha! Say it."

"No."

"Say it."

"No."

Sebastian let go of Kurt's wrists to start tickling him again and Kurt managed to get the advantage once more and Sebastian ended up on his back again.

"Two to one. Say it."

"You're the best tickler of all time," Sebastian managed to get out through the laughing.

"You bet I am!" Kurt put his arms up flexing his biceps.

Thad wolf whistled. "Nice arms!"

Kurt rolled his eyes and let Sebastian up. "No more for tonight. I'm tired. Get up."

Sebastian stood up.

Kurt wrapped his arms around his neck. "Thank you for coming with us."

Sebastian hugged him back. "Of course I came." He let Kurt go and pulled the covers back on his bed and got in.

Kurt turned the light off, without being grabbed, and got into bed with Thad. He lay on his back and moved his arm so that Thad could lay his head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around Thad and used his free hand to stroke the side of Thad's face. He silently kissed the top of Thad's head. Thad nuzzled in and they fell asleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sunday the three of them spent the day exploring the Niagara Falls area. They viewed all three falls from different locations. They had opted for a tour, even though it cost because they knew that Thad could not walk the distance they would need to cover in a single day, plus it was really cold outside to spend that much time walking outside.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Monday morning, Kurt woke up really early. He was really excited and a little nervous. He wanted to marry Thad, but they were so young. He pushed those doubting thoughts away and started kissing Thad on the back of the neck. Thad stirred and turned over and started kissing Kurt. Thad's kisses pushed the lingering doubts far from Kurt's mind.

Kurt kissed Thad's jaw around to his ear and whispered, "I love you. Today I get the amazing honor of becoming your husband."

"I'm so excited," Thad said.

They lay there wrapped up each other's arms for a while, enjoying the soft caresses they were sharing.

"Shower?"

"Yes, definitely yes."

Kurt and Thad did their best to be absolutely quiet in the shower, but they were glad that Sebastian was a sound sleeper.

"I'm definitely more calm now," Thad whispered, smiling as they were drying off.

Kurt laughed and winked. "I would think so."

"The built in seat in the shower is nice," Thad said. "And the handrails are conveniently located."

Kurt laughed again. "That they are. And the padded non-slip mat makes kneeling comfortable."

They were hardly able to keep from cackling at that point. So much for keeping quiet. Kurt turned the blow dryer on in an attempt to cover up their laughing. Every time they'd look at each other, they'd just start laughing again. Kurt passed Thad the dryer after he got his brace on and could use it.

They slipped their pajama pants back on and went back out into the room. The sun had started to rise while they were in the bathroom, so it wasn't completely black in the room anymore.

Thad sat on the end of the bed while Kurt repacked their suitcase. He put outfits for them to wear on their flight in the suitcase that originally had their coats in it. He packed everything else in their other suitcase.

Thad woke Sebastian up and they all got dressed in their outfits for the ceremony. Sebastian packed his pajamas and other stuff back in the backpack he'd brought on the trip. They looked around the room to makes sure they hadn't left anything behind. Sebastian grabbed one the suitcases and Kurt grabbed the other. They put all of the luggage in the trunk and went back in to eat breakfast and pay their bill.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They arrived at the courthouse and signed in. Kurt had made the appointment right after Thad had said yes, so they would be sure to get in when they needed to. They had chosen to write their own vows, but they had kept them secret, waiting to share them until the ceremony itself.

While they waited, Kurt set his phone to silent so that Sebastian or someone could take photos without the phone making any noise.

"I have something for us," Kurt said to Thad. He reached into his satchel and pulled out a small box, which he handed to Thad.

Thad took it and opened it to find two brushed stainless 9mm wedding bands. He took one out to look at it. He realized that the inside was engraved. He turned it so he could read it. "–TOUJOURS – Kurt & Thad – 5-3-12"

"I know we have decided on the finger tattoos, but after I thought about how hard it would be to keep them hidden at school, I thought we could hold off on getting them until after we graduate. There are stainless chains underneath the cotton layer in the box that we can wear the rings on at school."

"I really like them."

"I got them wide enough that they will cover over the tattoos if we don't want them to show for any reason."

Sebastian held his hand out to look at one. "Those are nice. You put the date European style."

"I figure we're going to live in Europe, so I had them done accordingly."

"Kurt Hummel and Thad Harwood." The lady at the counter called them up.

They put the rings in their pockets and Kurt put the box back in his satchel.

"Through the double doors. The judge is inside. If you have a camera, you can give it to the attendant in the room."

"Thank you," Kurt said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The three of them walked into the room and Sebastian closed the door behind them. Kurt laid his bag on a bench and handed his phone to the attendant. He and Thad approached the judge.

"Kurt and Thad?"

"That's correct, Sir," Kurt said.

"Alright then. Just step forward and stand facing each other in front of my podium."

Kurt and Thad faced each other standing where they were told to.

"Do you both come before me today of your own volition to be joined in lawful marriage?"

"We do," they responded in unison.

"And you have brought a witness?"

"We have," they responded.

"Please join hands and say your vows to each other."

They held hands and looked at each other.

"Thad, I give to you everything I am and everything I will ever be. I value our friendship beyond measure. I promise to share your dreams and help you achieve your goals. I will never stand behind you or in front of you, but always beside you. I will listen to you with an open heart and an open mind pledging my honesty, compassion, fidelity, and forgiveness. I promise to love you, no matter what tomorrow brings. I will always be your most loyal friend and your loving husband now and forever."

"Kurt, you are the person I want to share my life with. I know I can count on you because you are loving, helpful, trustworthy, and dependable. Your smiles and laughter light up my days and there is no one else I would rather spend my time with. I promise to love and encourage you, to be there in the dark times and the times that are full of joy. I will support you in all your endeavors. I give you my trust and promise to be worthy of your trust. I will remain by your side now and forever as your faithful husband."

"The exchange of rings."

Kurt took Thad's ring out of his pocket. "This ring is a symbol my neverending love for you." Kurt slid Thad's ring onto his finger.

Thad took Kurt's ring out of his pocket. "This ring is a symbol of my neverending love for you." Thad slid Kurt's ring onto his finger.

"In witness to the vows you have made to each other and by the authority granted to me by the state of New York, I declare the two of you to be legally married. Congratulations. You may kiss, if you'd like."

They stepped toward each other and kissed gently, followed by an energetic hug. Kurt's smile could not have been any bigger. And Thad's wasn't far behind.

"Please step around the podium and sign the marriage certificate." He handed them both a pen.

Kurt wrapped his left arm around Thad's waist so they could both fit and sign at the same time. Sebastian and the attendant both took pictures of them signing.

"Sir?" The judge called Sebastian forward.

He took Kurt's pen and signed as well.

"Congratulations," the judge said again.

"Thank you, your honor," Kurt said.

"Thank you, sir," Thad responded.

"Could we get a picture of you with the three of us?"

"Sure." The judge stood to Thad's left and Sebastian stood to Kurt's right and the attendant took a few shots.

"Thanks again," Kurt said. "This is my dream come true."

"I'm glad to have been a part of that," the judge said. "One day the rest of the country will get their act together and young men such as the two of you won't have to drive out of state to get married."

"That's the hope," Thad said.

They all three shook hands with the judge.

Kurt walked toward the attendant and asked her, "Can you take a photo of the three of us?"

"Sure. Stand over there against the wall."

Kurt and Thad stood next to each other, shoulders not quite touching, while holding hands. Sebastian was taller than both of them and stood behind them. Kurt stepped another half-step away from Thad so that Sebastian could be seen better. The first couple of shots were fairly serious.

"Come on guys, a little more lively," she said.

Sebastian put his arms around their shoulders and they put theirs around his waist and gave the attendant great smiles.

"Much better."

"Thanks so much," Kurt said as he put his hand out to get his phone back from her.

"You're welcome. Congratulations!"

Kurt grabbed his bag and they all three grabbed their coats and exited the judge's chambers.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They went up to the observation deck of the building. It was freezing, but the view was spectacular. They all took photos of the view. They also managed to take several selfies with the three of them in the shots. Sebastian also took a few of Kurt and Thad.

Kurt pointed to a building not that far away. "That's where we're going next."

"To a church?" Thad asked.

"Yep. I saw the photos. It looks amazing. I may be an atheist, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate magnificent architecture and art. There's also a fantastic pipe organ in there and if we're lucky, maybe someone is playing it."

It didn't take long to get to the church and it was every bit as magnificent as Kurt thought it would be. There was someone available near the entrance to ask questions. Kurt asked if there was anyone scheduled to play the organ that morning.

"Go inside and look around. I'll find out."

A few minutes later, Kurt saw someone enter and sit at the organ. He pulled out his phone and started video recording. The person played a single piece that Kurt couldn't identify, but it was beautiful. When the song ended, they walked around for a while just admiring the art and architecture. When they were leaving, Kurt thanked the docent.

"Thank you for having him play for us. Can you tell me his name?"

"You're welcome. I hope you enjoyed your visit." She took out a tiny notebook from her pocket and wrote the musician's name on it and handed it to Kurt.

"We did, very much." He took the sheet and put it in his wallet.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

From the church, they drove to the airport. They went directly to a bathroom and with a lot of focused effort, Kurt and Thad managed to change their clothes without violating any of Kurt's germ rules.

They packed their coats and their dress clothes into the empty suitcase and were fully dressed in summer attire for their arrival in Miami later that afternoon. Sebastian was taking their dress clothes and coats back to Ohio with him.

They went to the food court area and ate lunch together before separating for their boarding areas to wait for their flights.

When they got to the point where they had to split, Kurt hugged Sebastian. "Thank you for coming with us. It means the world to me that we're friends."

Thad hugged him next. "Thanks for everything."

"I'll see you both on Sunday. I'm having the car service pick me up and take me to the airport to pick you up."

"See ya!" Kurt said.

Thad waved and turned to walk toward their terminal. He took Kurt's hand an interlaced their fingers.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Are you sure about this?" Kurt asked.

"I'm sure."

"I don't want you to do it because you think I want you to."

"I know that I can decide whatever I want to and you're fine with that. I don't feel the least bit pressured."

"Alright."

They went into the tattoo parlor that they had visited before that specialized in tattooing over scars. Kurt had brought photos and drawings of what they had chosen. Kurt bought the numbing cream because he read that tattooing over scarred skin could hurt a lot more than normal.

"Hey guys! Long time no see," Zach said.

"You know we don't live here year round Zach," Kurt said, teasing him.

"I know, I know." He smiled. "So, are you two ready?"

"As I'm going to get," Kurt said. "We're going to hold off on the finger tattoos for now. We can't figure out how to keep them hidden at school and visible tattoos are against the dress code, unfortunately. We'll be back for those after we graduate."

"Good deal. Can't get you kicked out of school a few months before you finish over something you can do later."

"Exactly."

"We have to wear long sleeves all the time, so no one will see our forearms," Thad said.

"Alright then, have a seat and we'll get started. I already the templates with your designs. I'll take you back as soon as I've got everything ready."

Zach was back in just a couple of minutes and he took both of them to the back. "Charli is going to do Thad's. She's really good with all of those intricate lines that those trees are going to require."

Thad sat down and Charli got to work on his arm.

Kurt sat down at Zach's station on the other side of the room. He put his arm out on the armrest and closed his eyes, but some tears were escaping.

"Hey, Kurt. It's gonna be okay. I've done this a lot."

"I'm not afraid. I've just kept it hidden. I know I showed it to you when I came in for the consultation, but looking at it still causes me to flashback to that night. I just want it gone." He used his left hand to wipe the tears off his face.

"I understand."

"I know."

Kurt closed his eyes again and let Zach work his magic on his arm. After two hours, both of them got up and walked around a bit. They looked at each other's arms, grabbed a drink and sat back down. Kurt applied more numbing cream when he was allowed to during the process.

Another two hours later and they were both getting closer to being done. They walked around a little. Charli and Zach stretched too.

They all sat back down and worked through the final portion.

While Kurt's design was a lot less technically complicated than Thad's, Zach had to work with the scarred skin and getting the image to look right as he went along, altering and working to keep it the way it was supposed to look. Working on skin that was scarred was a lot more difficult than nice smooth skin.

Kurt looked down at his arm when Zach was done. The tears started flowing freely. "Thank you. It's beautiful."

Once they were both finished, their arms were wrapped. They were given written directions along with the products they needed to use to take care of the tattooed area for the next week or maybe longer.

"Thank you," Kurt said again.

Zach hugged him. "You're welcome. Come back before you leave and let me take an after photo. The non-release you signed prevents me from using your name or the photos. I just keep a personal photo album. It helps me some days."

"Alright."

He handed Kurt some tissues. Kurt hadn't managed to stop crying just yet. It was like the floodgates of all of the pain just came pouring out.

"Hey, Kurt." Zach got Kurt to look him in the eyes. "Something's going on. Do you want to talk?"

"Things have just gotten a lot more complicated since Christmas," Thad answered since it was clear that Kurt was unable to speak right then.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"There's nothing that can really be done and it's just hard."

"I get that. I won't push. If you decide you want to talk, just come by sometime."

Kurt nodded.

"Thanks again," Thad said. "You've made things better when there isn't a lot that does that right now." He took Kurt's hand and they left the shop.

They had taken the bus to the shop, but Thad walked them down the street to a bench and called a cab. It didn't take long for it to arrive and they were home quickly.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad got Kurt inside and they went upstairs. He pulled the covers back on the bed and undressed Kurt. He got him to lie down in the bed and covered him with the sheet. He went in the bathroom and got a washcloth wet with cool water and twisted the excess water out. He sat next to Kurt and gently wiped his face, then folded the washcloth and placed it over Kurt's eyes, which had to be stinging from crying so much.

He undressed and got in bed and lay down next to Kurt. It only took a few seconds for Kurt to reach out for him. Thad took his hand and interlaced their fingers. They lay that way for close to a half hour. Kurt had run out of tears and had calmed down.

He squeezed Thad's hand. "I didn't realize how that would affect me. I mean, I had read other people's stories, but..."

"It's okay. You don't have to explain anything to me."

"I love you so much. Your tattoo is beautiful. Do you like it?"

"I do. A lot. And I think yours is fantastic. Zach did a great job."

"He really did. I think that's what made me so emotional. I mean I wanted it covered up and gone, but I think I really thought I'd still be able to see it when I looked at my arm. Like when you try to use make up to cover up a blemish or cover over freckles. It looks good from far away, but up close you can still see whatever you are trying to hide. But with my arm, when I looked down, all I saw was the musical notation, nothing else."

"I'm glad you're pleased with it."

"I am. I'm also really happy that we're here. I love being here with you. I'm so excited about going to the beach tomorrow. That wet suit idea was fantastic. Now we can go for a walk along the beach more easily."

"I know. I'm excited too. I loved the creative ways you've managed to get us to the beach the last couple of times, but walking will be so much easier."

"I always want you with me, even if it means ordering a sled and having it shipped to Florida," Kurt laughed.

"I love you. I'm glad we're here too. I've been looking forward to spring break since we went back to school in January. This has become my favorite place - here with you."

"Me too." Kurt rolled over and got up on his hands and knees and crawled over the top of Thad and started kissing him.

"Mmm." Between kisses Thad said, "I was... going to… ask you... what you wanted... to do...but I like...this idea."

Kurt started kissing down his neck, "I thought you would." And then down his chest.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt was lying on his back and Thad was on his side, with his head on Kurt's chest, their limbs all intertwined.

"Well, that was a big surprise," Kurt said. He turned his head and looked toward Thad. He hadn't expected to get a massage like the ones he always gave Thad.

Thad pulled back a bit and looked at Kurt. "I've been wanting to do that for so long. I've been specifically working on it since we got back after Christmas when the PT said I was okay to start. I had to build muscle first. The brace is a necessary evil, but it restricts the movement in my leg muscles, making me less flexible and some muscles weaker. But I've fixed that over the last couple of months."

"I saw. I like." He smiled.

"Me too," he said waggling his eyebrows. "Shall we order some dinner to be delivered? It's already dark out. I don't want to go out shopping now."

"Sure. I'll be right back. I'll go downstairs and get the menus."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Well, that was very good and there's enough left over to eat it for breakfast before we go out shopping tomorrow," Thad said on their way back upstairs. "We'll have to take a taxi back from the store though. I still can't carry anything."

"We need a wagon. I should have ordered one of those on Amazon to be delivered here," he laughed.

"We'll put wheels on the sled."

"Interesting idea."

"I have a better one."

"You do, do you?"

"Me, you, the shower?"

"We have to read those directions again first. I don't want to do anything to mess our tattoos up."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They were reclining against the headboard, propped up on pillows, relaxing and holding hands.

Thad ran his fingers over the palm of Kurt's hand and then over Kurt's ring. "We're married."

Kurt responded, "You've made so many of my dreams come true. I have to give Sebastian credit for helping with one of my dreams coming true though. We're going to France and he's letting us live with him. I thought I'd have to wait another five years or more to save up enough to be able to stay in France for a few weeks. But we're going to live there. It's amazing. You're amazing and we're married and I love you so much. I have just one dream left, I guess."

"What's that?"

"I'd like to get a job doing something I enjoy. I already have the most amazing husband who's my very best friend and this past year I managed to acquire a second best friend, who is also your second best friend. We have to find him a boyfriend when we get to France," Kurt laughed.

"We can't pick for him." Thad laughed.

"Of course not, but he'll have to pass the Hummel-Harwood test."

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

"He has to like both of us. Sebastian's kind of a package deal now," Kurt laughed. "To become the fourth musketeer, the guy's going to have to be pretty awesome."

"You're full of yourself tonight," Thad laughed.

"Of course, I am. I'm married to the sexiest, most awesome, incredibly talented, smartest, sweetest guy I know."

"I see." Thad laughed. "Right now, we look a little silly only wearing these arm sleeves you got for football, but I will grant you that they are the perfect solution to keeping the bandage on the tattoos while being able to move freely." Thad turned and got back up on his hands and knees and crawled over Kurt and sat down in his lap and leaned forward to kiss him. "Where are those necklaces? I'd like to put my ring on it."

Kurt pulled the box that the rings had been in out of his satchel. He opened the box and took the necklaces out and handed one to Thad.

"Oh, they're kind of like lanyards."

"Yeah, but the clip part is strong and it opens halfway up the side which prevents the ring from falling off, even it gets bumped. The way the clip is on the necklace makes the ring lay flat on your chest. Kurt put his necklace on, slipped his ring off and attached it to the clip. "See." He turned so Thad could see his chest better. "If we just slipped them over a chain, they wouldn't lay flat."

"You are amazing." Thad leaned forward and kissed him quickly. "I really like the rings. And the necklaces are awesome." He fastened his ring to his necklaces and hooked it on the knob on the bedside table drawer. He took Kurt's necklace off and hung it with his. He slipped the rings they'd been wearing on their thumbs off as well.

Kurt gave him a puzzled look.

"I have plans for your hands that don't include any rings being on them."

"You do, do you? That sounds intriguing."

He leaned over and opened his backpack that was leaned against the bedside table and pulled out a bag. He sat back up in Kurt's lap and dumped the contents of the bag onto the bed next to them.

"I see." Kurt blushed.

"While you were doing romantic things like ordering rings and necklaces for us, I ordered this stuff."

Kurt laughed and kissed him.

Thad pressed into the kiss and deepened it and leaned forward pushing Kurt back into the pillows. "I really, really want to try. If it hurts, I'll tell you, I promise."

"I want to."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"All the trouble of getting all of this on was absolutely worth it," Thad said. "I missed this so much." He stepped away from Kurt, extending their arms, still holding his hand and he twirled himself back into Kurt and leaned up and kissed him.

Kurt spun him back out and then twirled him around and grabbed his other hand and started waltzing, or their best attempt at waltzing, in the ankle-deep surf. "Sebastian says that there are places we can go dancing together in Paris, like old-fashioned waltzing and foxtrotting and whatnot."

"That will be awesome. I won't be very good at it with this brace on."

"It's not about being good at it. It's about doing it together." He kissed him. "He twirled Thad around and spun him back out. He closed the gap between them and kept walking. "Look!" Kurt pointed out in the distance, practically bouncing. "Dolphins! That's so cool."

Thad smiled and squeezed Kurt's hand. "They are really cool."

They spent the rest of their morning walking along the beach and back, taking breaks along the way.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"You know what? This is a beach town. I am absolutely leaving all of this on, except I'm putting real shoes on, and I'm going to the grocery store just like this."

Kurt laughed. "Fine with me." I'll just leave my beach stuff on too and put my chucks on. I'll just hose my feet and legs off, dry them off and go get our regular shoes and some socks. I won't sit down on anything."

A few minutes later, Kurt was back. Thad had sprayed his water shoes and feet off, and was working on his feet. He came out of the shower area and sat down.

"Alright then, socks, shoes and off to the store. If people laugh, I do not care one little bit."

They both finished getting their shoes on.

"The swim trunks over the wet suit is a bit funny looking."

"Better than everyone seeing just how much I enjoy being near you," Thad said and laughed.

"Point taken. That's only for me to know, and see." He kissed Thad and pulled him up out of the chair and stepped in close and kissed him again.

Between the kisses, Thad said, "We'll...never...get there...this way."

Kurt pulled back, "I can't have you starve."

Thad leaned in and resumed the kisses, pausing to say, "It's impossible for us to starve in five days." And kissed along Kurt's neck up to his ear.

Kurt was breathing hard. "You just said you didn't want to take that outfit off yet."

"Right, right." Thad stepped back, catching his breath. "Shopping, food, market."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt put the suitcase on the extra bed and dumped his backpack down next to it. He turned and walked back to Thad and kissed him soundly. "That was the best spring break ever. Nothing will ever beat it."

"I agree. Get changed, though. Showing up late isn't a good way to show leadership."

Kurt started stripping and throwing his clothes across the room at Thad.

"Now, now. How am I supposed to focus if you're going to do a strip tease?"

"Just turn your back," Kurt teased, making a twisting motion in the air with his index finger.

Thad made a buzzer sound. "Wrong answer." He took his clothes off while continuing to watch Kurt.

Kurt moved his ring from his finger to his necklace while walking over to his closet to pull out a uniform. "I'm glad you got us added to the Regionals competition in Cleveland, but it's a long drive each way. We've got to get downstairs in 10 minutes. Our flight taking off late is making this hard."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They managed to show up with about 30 seconds to spare. They got on the minibus.

Thad whistled and got everyone's attention. "Before we leave, I want everyone to be 100% honest. No one told anyone about this, correct? I mean, if you did, we'll be frustrated for forfeiting, but I'll call and do it now. We can't go if anyone said anything to anyone about us competing today."

No one said a word.

David spoke, "If we find out later that any of you did tell someone, you'll be stripped of your Warbler membership. Does anyone want to say anything?"

Trent said, "Last chance..."

"Alright, then. Let's go," Thad said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They arrived at 6:20, 10 minutes before the start of the competition. They had drawn the 5th slot out of 6, so they still had time to warm up. They had done some vocal warm ups and sung through their songs once on the bus.

They signed in and were given a classroom number. They spent about 20 minutes in the room and then quietly moved to their backstage area. They only saw the group before them perform from the wings. They were good, but not fear-inducing good. The curtains came down and the other group filed off the stage.

The Warblers took their places on the risers. Kurt and Sebastian killed their songs and their group number rocked the audience. The dance lessons had definitely paid off. They still used a staggered system with the least coordinated dancers in the back, with each subsequent row doing more difficult moves with the best dancers in the row right behind Kurt and Sebastian.

Their performance was met with thunderous applause. They exited the stage and stayed in the wings, out of the way during the last group's performance since they didn't have any seats to return to in the audience.

After the group left the stage, the Warblers went back to the classroom and waited the 15 minutes of the judging intermission. The bell rang and they went back to the stage area. All six groups were in the wings, three on each side. The three finalists were announced: Vocal Adrenaline, Soaring Notes, and the Warblers. The other three groups left the wings and sat in the audience.

The announcer went in front of the curtain and announced the names of the groups. The curtains opened and the three groups were standing in the risers.

"And in third place - from Akron, Vocal Adrenaline."

"The second place trophy goes to Soaring Notes from Cleveland."

"And first place, moving on to Nationals in Chicago - from Westerville, the Warblers."

They had won. They won! The whole group turned into a hugging pile of teen boys in blazers. They were shocked. They came to their prep school senses and stood back in formation. Thad, David, and Trent walked up to the announcer, who handed the trophy to David. He carried it back over to the group. They stayed in formation until the announcer had finished speaking. The curtains closed and they resumed hugging and high-fiving each other.

"So, Chicago, here we come!" Jeff exclaimed.

They quieted down and exited the stage and went straight back to their minibus. Once everyone was on and seated, Thad whistled again to get their attention.

"Remember your pledges of secrecy remain until further notice. There will be no discussion of our competitions."

Everyone nodded.

"If you want to be on the team, you'll keep our group information to yourself. Warbler matters are only to be discussed in the Warbler practice room. Nowhere else. Any questions?"

No one said anything.

"Congratulations to all of you," Mr. Browning said. "We're going to Pittsburgh next weekend for the quarter finals of the a cappella competition, so be sure to get all of your homework done by Friday before we leave if at all possible. I know it will be a tough week because this week is midterms. Pace yourselves, focus, and stay organized."

Trent reminded everyone, "We'll be singing these same three songs. Regular rehearsal times during last period, no extra dance rehearsals this week to give everyone more time to focus on their schoolwork during the week."

They all nodded in understanding. After that, they went back to talking to each other quietly or resting during the rest of the 2-hour drive back to the school.

When they got back to the school, the minibus pulled around to the back loading dock where they had gotten on it. They filled into the delivery hallway and then out into the school. Mr. Browning made sure the door was locked after the last Warbler came through. He had the trophy with him. He took it to his office and put it in the corner on a file cabinet so it faced the wall and the inscription couldn't be seen. It would go in the trophy case with the photo he took of them on stage at the end of the year, just like Kurt had asked him.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The Warblers doubled down on their homework assignments like they had been told to do. They worked extra hard in practice so that they'd be ready to perform at the end of the week. Kurt had also managed to talk to each one of them individually and assure their attendance at the lacrosse team's first scrimmage of the season on Friday afternoon.

They met in the Warbler room, wearing their sweater vests and letter jackets and headed out to the pitch to sit together and cheer Sebastian on. He was surprised to hear his own cheering block, which was exactly what Kurt had been going for. The huge smile on his face when he realized that everyone had come to see him was totally worth the effort of sneaking around and arranging it. Dalton won the scrimmage.

Kurt and Thad waited around for Sebastian to finish showering and changing in the locker room and they went to dinner together. They sat with the other Warblers. Everyone was silent.

"Why is no one talking?" Kurt asked when they sat down.

"Well, because the minute one of us starts to open our mouths, we think about NOT saying anything about the things we want to talk about. So, we decided we should just not talk and make sure we all kept our word," Jeff answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Kurt, we're not upset. We're just being trustworthy Warblers. We'll have plenty of time to talk this weekend," Trent said.

"So, Sebastian, why don't you explain the rules of lacrosse to us? Some of us didn't have time to look them up before we went this afternoon," Michael said. "It's not a sport that was played at my middle school last year. It was exciting to watch, but I'm sure it will be more fun when we go again if I'm not clueless."

That got the conversation around the table flowing quickly. Sebastian started talking and then other lacrosse aficionados started adding in their information and 30 minutes later, everyone had eaten and learned the rules and no one felt weird sitting at a table in silence.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning before sunrise, all of the Warblers were in the loading dock hallway in their letter jackets, white button ups, sweater vests without ties, and dark jeans instead of their gray dress slacks. They loaded their bags into the minibus and headed off to Pittsburgh. They had planned a trip to IHOP for breakfast as they drove into Pittsburgh. From there, they were headed to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History for the day.

The competition started at 6:00. They were 4th out of 6 groups. That gave them the opportunity to watch the first half of the groups before they went to the green room area to warm up. They performed the same three numbers that they had the weekend before. They had practiced until they had their pieces really synchronized and the harmonies were spot on. The crowed clapped and cheered after they finished. They went back to their seats in the audience and watched the last group. After the judging intermission, the announcer approached the mic stand and tapped it.

"Will the following three groups please come up on stage? Note Nation, the Warblers, and Sync City Singers."

The three groups were applauded and assembled on stage.

"In third place, Sync City Singers." The audience clapped and their leader retrieved their trophy.

"In second place, Note Nation and first place goes to the Warblers, who will be moving on to the semi finals in Buffalo, New York." The crowded cheered. David, Thad, and Trent brought their trophy back. They remembered to stay in formation this time.

Once the curtain closed, they all started high-fiving and hugging each other.

"We're going to New York!"

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad had their own room with just one bed in it, in a handicap accessible room, which gave them the privacy they had missed from when they were in Florida. It had been a week since they came back, but it felt like longer since they had been completely alone.

"We're alone at last," Thad said.

"We're going to have to get Sebastian a white noise machine or convince him to install surround sound systems in our rooms when we move. I don't want to feel like we're disturbing him all the time and you're not very quiet," he smirked.

Thad blushed and pushed Kurt back into the wall gently and started kissing up his neck. "It feels too good to be quiet."

"Mmm hmm." was all Kurt could manage to get out while Thad was kissing him like he was.

Thad moved his hands from the sides of Kurt's face to his collar and loosened his tie. He pushed the blazer off of his shoulders and got his tie off.

"Here let me help you." Kurt slipped away from Thad and hung his blazer and slacks up and stripped the rest of the way down to his underwear.

Thad was close behind, but was slower because the brace still made everything take longer.

Kurt had pulled the shower seat down and stabilized it by the time Thad came in the bathroom. He sat on the edge of the seat and Kurt took his brace and put it on the counter. They enjoyed a long, steamy shower. Afterwards, Kurt moisturized both of them. They were still having to pay special attention to their tattoos. They had been wearing the athletic sleeves to keep their bandages in place all week and they put them back on after they went through the proper tattoo care steps.

The rest of their evening and night was spent they way they had spent them in Florida. They knew they'd be tired the next morning when it was time to leave to go to the Carnegie Science Center, but they didn't care. They planned to take a nap on the bus ride back to Westerville after they left the museum.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Unfortunately for them, the bus ride back was too rowdy to sleep through. Since they had been given an early curfew the evening before, everyone else was still full of energy. And they were hyped up about getting to go on to the semi-finals at the end of April. Song suggestions were tossed around.

"Any official song suggestions should be submitted tomorrow at rehearsal. We'll vote at the end of rehearsal," David reminded everyone.

"One song for Kurt, one for Sebastian, one with multiple split leads. Think hard. We have six weeks to be ready," Thad said. "AND I have to arrange the songs before we can start to rehearse."

"Will we sing the same songs for the Show Choir Nationals?" Xavier asked.

"Yes," Thad answered. "We have one week after we come back before AP exams, then the AP exams, the next week is our last week before finals and Nationals is the Saturday before finals week."

"For the new members of the group, you need to really make sure you stay on top of your schoolwork. None of you will be taking AP exams, but Dalton's finals are quite comprehensive. You need to focus on your schoolwork. As much as we all want to win, you can't sacrifice your grades," David told them.

"I will arrange one song right away," Thad said. "And we'll start to work on it, hopefully by Thursday. The others will have to be ready by the following Monday. Some of you who are interested in arranging need to participate. The group is going to need someone to take my place on the council for next fall. I'll put a sign up sheet out with the song recommendations sheet at rehearsal tomorrow."

The conversations split apart again as different subgroups started singing songs they thought might work.

As they pulled back up to the back of the school, Mr. Browning reminded them again to keep what they had done over the weekend to themselves. He took their new trophy to his office and put it next to the last one.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

At the beginning of rehearsal on Tuesday, David announced the songs that had been chosen - "Pocketful of Sunshine", "Skyscraper", and "Breakaway".

Trent explained, "We will feature our six seniors on 'Pocketful of Sunshine,' which means Kurt, Sebastian, Thad, Nick, Jeff, and Richard, for anyone who didn't who our seniors are. Kurt will sing lead on 'Breakaway', leaving 'Skyscraper' for Sebastian. Our choices were supposed to have a theme for the Show Choir Nationals and we felt that these three songs best represented a theme of overcoming. We'll be singing 'Unwritten' as our fourth piece for the a cappella competition, which we've been rehearsing for a while now since we're singing it for graduation this year."

"Anyone who signed up yesterday to work on the arrangements needs to move over to the piano area. Everyone else can work on homework or help Jeff and David with choreography ideas," Thad said.

The group working on the arrangements gathered around the piano and got to work on the arrangements. They all stayed for about an hour past the final bell, except for Sebastian who had to go to lacrosse practice.

Jeff and David had a couple of people willing to bounce ideas around for choreography, mostly just saying what they thought of their ideas. Any real work would have to wait for Sebastian and Kurt could join them.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt left the group working on the arrangements at 4:20 so he could call Burt at 4:30, which had been their arranged time to speak for the last few weeks. Kurt had removed his other phone from his parents' phone plan a few days after Thad had given him the new phone. Burt hated that he didn't have a number to contact Kurt directly, but he took down the new email address that Kurt had created for just him and Carole to use. Kurt promised to check it several times a day in case his dad needed to talk to him.

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, kiddo. How are things going?"

"Busy, like usual. Lots and lots of schoolwork, as always."

"I know they give you all a lot of schoolwork."

"Well, I'm taking all advanced classes, the type I can get college credits for."

"I remember you telling us that you were doing that."

"So, how are things with you?"

"Busy too. Being two places is tough. I feel like I'm shortchanging the shop and Carole a lot of the time, but she comes with me when she can."

"How's Finn?"

"Well, did I tell you they won Regionals?"

"We didn't talk about that last week. I'm sure he's excited."

"The competition is in Chicago this year, but you probably already know that."

"Yeah."

"So, he's less excited than he was last year. I guess Chicago doesn't seem as exciting, plus he's still moping somewhat. But a lot less since he and Dave have gotten closer. That boy's done a total 180. He's like his dad described him that day - polite, helpful, doing well in school, seems to enjoy being in Glee. The two of them are having a good time. They're at Disney today."

"Uh huh." Kurt wanted this topic to end quickly, which is why he brought up Finn so infrequently.

"They're both really excited about being here in Florida. Carole and I are loving it too. This area is really pretty."

"I'm glad you're having a good time."

"It would have been better if you had been able to get out of school to come with us."

"Yeah, sometimes things don't go the way we want them to."

"I know, bud."

"I don't really have anything interesting to tell you, unless you want to hear about the research paper I'm writing for advanced French."

Burt laughed. "I think I'll pass."

"I figured. I'll call you next Tuesday. And if anything changes, I'll email you and let you know ahead of time. Have fun on your vacation."

"We will."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I missed you at dinner," Thad said when he came in the room.

"I wasn't hungry."

"I figured as much since it was your weekly check in time."

"Yeah. I don't really want to talk about it."

"That's fine." He walked over to Kurt's desk and leaned over to kiss him. "I love you."

Kurt stood up. He needed the contact. He needed Thad. "I love you too." He wrapped his arms around Thad and held him close. "Thanks for coming up to see me. I know you have to go work on the arrangements."

"Actually, I told them that I'd meeting them in an hour, well an hour from then - that I had something I needed to do first." He wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck.

Kurt leaned back to look at him. "Oh?"

"I needed to see you." He kissed Kurt.

"I needed to see you too. I just didn't know how much until now." Kurt nuzzled into Thad's neck and just held on tight and inhaled the scent of the man he loved.

They spent another ten minutes or so kissing and holding each other before Thad had to get going to be able to make it back to the Warbler practice room when he was supposed to.

After Thad left, Kurt turned to his pastime of cleaning and organizing when faced with too many things weighing on his mind and no one to spend time with. He tackled the laundry and cleaned everything in sight.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian got back to his room that evening and found it spotless and all of his laundry done and put away with the exception of things on he drying rack. He went looking for the cleaning fairy that had visited him. He loved Kurt, but he knew things were dragging him down when he resorted to this instead of showing up to work on the choreography that he was supposed to be helping with.

He knocked on Kurt's door. Kurt opened it and let him in.

Sebastian shut the door behind him. "I came to thank the cleaning fairy, although I'm not sure that Jeff and David will be thankful that you skipped the choreography meeting to clean my room and do my laundry for me."

"Oh, no. I completely forgot. I'm so sorry."

"Just don't tell anyone what you were doing and look pleased with your quick recovery from whatever you had that made you skip dinner. When you didn't come down, Thad told everyone you were feeling sick."

"Well, that's not exactly inaccurate."

"I figured." He handed Kurt a sack.

Kurt looked confused, but took it and opened it.

"Thank you." He pulled the salad out and sat down at his desk. "Sit with me?"

"Sure." Sebastian slipped his shoes off and fluffed the pillow and propped it against the headboard and leaned back. He knew Kurt was more likely to actually eat the food if someone stayed with him.

Kurt pulled out some envelopes that he had put in his bag earlier in the day when he picked up the mail from his box.

He opened an official looking letter from New York. Their marriage certificates came. Kurt showed Sebastian, who smiled. Kurt took them and put them in his mini safe in his closet and sat back down in his chair. He opened a couple brochures for summer enrichment programs and a few about earning college credits over the summer at different programs. He opened the last one and read for less than a minute and dropped the paper.

"What's wrong?" Sebastian hopped up and retrieved the dropped sheet of paper.

Kurt shook his head.

Sebastian read the letter.

You have been repeatedly warned to stay in that school. You left the school and participated in Regionals in Cleveland. Just because you turned your phone off doesn't mean no one can find you. Don't go to Chicago. No more warnings.

Sebastian put his hand on Kurt's shoulder for a few seconds. He took the salad and put the lid back on. As he was putting it back in the sack, he said, "I'm going to go stick this in the floor fridge." He grabbed Kurt's pen and put his name on the sack. "I'll be right back." Sebastian walked out of the room and dashed to the kitchen. On his way back to the room, he texted Thad to come back right then.

When Kurt didn't get up to let him in, Sebastian went back into Kurt's room through the bathroom. Kurt was still sitting at his desk staring. Sebastian took the letter and put it on the dresser. He stood behind Kurt and put his hands on his shoulders because he didn't know anything else to do.

After a few minutes, Sebastian sat down on the unused bed again and sat close to Kurt, within his field of vision in hopes that Kurt at least realized that Sebastian hadn't left him alone.

Fifteen minutes later, Thad was struggling to get his key in the lock, obviously distressed by Sebastian's text. He opened the door and gave Sebastian a questioning look. Sebastian looked at the dresser. Thad nodded. Since Kurt had cleaned everything, the only thing on the dresser was the letter. Thad picked it up and read it and put it right back down. He nodded, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Sebastian got up off the bed and headed toward the bathroom to go back into his own room. Thad hugged him as he walked past. Sebastian just nodded and went on to his own room.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad hung his blazer up, walked through the bathroom and quietly told Sebastian that he wanted the bathroom in 15 minutes. Sebastian nodded. Thad went back to Kurt. He undressed himself, got their bed ready to sleep in, and waited to hear the knock on the bathroom door. He went locked the bathroom door leading to Sebastian's room and went back to get Kurt ready to get in the shower.

Kurt moved to autopilot once they were in the shower. He helped Thad the way he always did. Once they were out and dry, Thad turned the doorknob, releasing the lock so Sebastian wouldn't be locked out of the bathroom.

He quickly hung their towels up and moved to the other side of the door and locked the door from the inside of their room. Kurt hadn't really moved much past a few steps into the room, waiting on Thad. Thad got in bed and took his brace off and Kurt came right over to take it and put it on Thad's desk next to the pajama pants that were there. Kurt climbed into bed and used Thad as a body pillow. Thad covered them up and held Kurt.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad had the forethought to put his phone under his pillow when he got their bed ready the night before, so he pulled it out and texted Sebastian to tell the nurse that Kurt was sick again, like he had been the last time and that hopefully he'd get Kurt out of bed and to the counselor's office some time that morning. They lay there in silence for another hour, Kurt not asleep, but not opening his eyes.

Thad attempted to break Kurt out of his nearly catatonic state by gently kissing him. "I love you, Kurt. I'm here for you - whatever you need."

Thad was surprised that Kurt responded and kissed him back. Thad took that as a good sign and began to slowly and gently run his hand up and down Kurt's arm. Kurt snuggled in closer and deepened the kiss.

"I love you too." He began to let his free hand roam freely, lightly running it along everywhere he could reach on Thad. After a few minutes, he got up and turned his iPod on and turned it up just a little louder than he normally did since everyone had gone to class. He went to their dresser and removed the small fabric bag where they kept their supplies and took it over to the bed. He got back in bed and under the covers with Thad. Kurt returned to kissing Thad deeply and passionately. "I love you so much. Thank you for coming back and taking care of me."

"I will always take care of you it it's in my power to do so." He ran his fingers down Kurt's cheek and the down his body, giving Kurt the chills. Thad asked with his eyes and Kurt nodded. Thad scooted over and lay back flat.

An hour later, they were back in the shower, starting a third round before they actually showered. After they showered, they lay down in the bed they didn't normally sleep in and snuggled up again.

"Nap time?" Kurt asked. "I'm thoroughly exhausted in the absolutely best way." He had a completely content smile on his face.

"Me too, but we can't go back to sleep unless we set an alarm."

Kurt grabbed his phone and set an alarm to go off in an hour. "Done." Kurt wiggled to get flat on his back and got Thad to lie on him for the nap, reversing their positions from the night before. He wrapped his arm around Thad and ran his hand through Thad's hair and kissed the top of his head.

Twenty minutes later, they were kissing and cuddling and touching everywhere, with no nap in sight.

"I thought you wanted a nap," Thad teased.

"Obviously, I want to kiss and touch you," he laughed. "I know we have to get up and go see Headmaster Carlson or Miss Webber. I'm tired of backing down. I don't want to let the group down. I don't want to give up the only thing that means anything to me except the people I love. But I don't know how to make that happen."

"Let's think about what it said. The letter only mentioned you going to Cleveland as proof that you had left the school. There was no mention of our trip to New York or, subsequently, Florida."

"Right. Right!" Kurt grabbed his phone. He opened Safari and typed "Dalton Academy Warblers" into Google. "Right there. The results were the Cleveland Regionals were in Cleveland's online newspaper, which is accessible without a subscription. Rachel used to talk about shower choir blogs or chat rooms or something. I bet people who were there talked about our performance on those sites too."

"So, we have no evidence that he knows that we went to Buffalo or Niagara Falls. What else comes up in the Google search?"

"That we won the quarter finals for the a cappella event we went to in Pittsburgh over the weekend. I bet this letter was sent before we went there. I hadn't picked my mail up since...I'm not even sure. One day last week. We were so busy, I just never went to look since I haven't ordered anything recently."

"So, he's going to be able to find out about Pittsburgh, which means that he'll know we're headed to Buffalo for the semi-finals."

"That would be my conclusion. Speaking of Buffalo, there's good news that I missed out on sharing because of that stupid letter."

"What?"

"Our certificates came. I put them in my mini safe."

Thad's face lit up. "It's officially official."

"It is!" Kurt kissed the top of his head.

Thad repositioned himself and kissed Kurt. "We really do need to get up and get ready. We might have to wait to see one or both them and we need to make it to lunch and our afternoon classes."

"We'll, Mr. Hummel-Harwood, I have had a fantastic time playing hooky with you this morning." He kissed Thad.

Thad rolled back onto his back so Kurt could get out of the bed.

Kurt grabbed Thad's brace and handed it to him.

Thad changed the subject completely. "We need to decide whether we're going straight to France or whether we're going to go to Florida for a while first."

"I think Florida because it will a long time before we can come back. Tickets from Europe to Florida are probably 10 times as much as tickets from Ohio to Florida."

"They can be, but we might be able to get a better price than that. So, a week, two weeks?"

"I'm not sure. I think we need to talk to Sebastian and find out when Solange's wedding is and when she's moving out of their place. I don't want to show up and make her feel like we're rushing her to move out."

"Good point."

They headed into the bathroom to finish getting ready. Thad paused on the way in and put the letter in his bag. When they came out, they put their blazers on, grabbed their bags, and headed down to the main office.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Well, as I see it, there are only a few options," Headmaster Carlson said. "You can drop out as a team. You can drop out individually. We can send one of the school guards with you. Or there's the option of you hiring personal security."

"A bodyguard. The school would allow a personal bodyguard to travel with me to the competitions?" Kurt responded.

"Yes, Kurt. I suspect that Art could make good suggestions on a reputable personal security company."

"Alright, then. I'll look into that. Thank you for your time."

"I'm sorry that these people won't leave you alone. You're sure that going to the authorities won't help?"

"You can look at the letter if you want, but there is absolutely nothing identifiable on it. I mean the threat itself is vague. 'You've been warned.' isn't specific enough for the police to do anything about."

"I suppose so."

Kurt stood, Thad followed his lead, and Kurt said, "Thanks again for your help and concern."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad stopped by Miss Webber's office to get a pass to take to the nurse to show that Kurt was ready to go back to class and to excuse the two of them from missing their morning classes.

From the nurse's office, they headed to the cafeteria to eat.

Kurt only put a drink on his tray. Thad wasn't pleased. He knew that Kurt hadn't eaten what Sebastian had gotten him last night and neither one of them had eaten breakfast.

They sat down at a table alone, near the windows.

"Did I hurt your throat?" Thad asked as he took Kurt's hand.

"What?" Kurt paused, then blushed. "No, no. Of course not."

"Then, please eat something."

"I'm not hungry."

"I know you don't feel hungry. But your body needs some energy. We have extended rehearsals all week."

"You're right. There's chicken rice vegetable soup up there. I'll go get a bowl." Kurt came back a couple of minutes later. He sat back down. "Don't forget that tonight's Sebastian's first real lacrosse game. Art's coming too."

"It's at 6:00, right? So, we need to end the extra rehearsal time by 5:00 to have time to eat dinner and get out there."

"Right." Kurt ate the soup, more to make Thad feel better than because he wanted to eat it.

"Are you going to get a bodyguard?"

"I think so. I don't know of any other way to get to participate. I'm going to ask Art about it tonight when he's here. How much progress did you make on the arrangements last night?"

"Well, since you can sing 'Breakaway' in its original key, I just downloaded the official orchestration of the Kelly Clarkson version. I'm close to being done since I just had to rewrite the score for voices. 'Skyscraper' will be harder. I have to transpose it down for Sebastian. I need to work with him a bit and see just how high he can sing and support it, while not flipping into falsetto. 'Pocketful of Sunshine' will be easier like 'Breakaway' because you're going to be on lead and you can sing it in the original key. Actually when we put you on lead last year and this year, it has made my job a lot easier because you can sing the songs in their original keys, saving me the trouble of doing so much modulating and transposing."

Kurt smiled. "Was anyone upset that I'm singing lead on two songs for the a cappella competition rather than doing a second group number?"

"Not that I've heard. I doubt anyone would feel like they've been slighted since, other than Sebastian, no one else sings lead anyway. Plus, all of them saw you be bullied out of performing the role you rightfully earned in the musical."

"Alright. I don't want people to think I'm being a spotlight hog."

"No one thinks that."

"Okay."

"Nick and Jeff are both mature enough to realize that you and Sebastian make stronger leads than they do. I'm not eligible and that was my choice. You know that my choice is to write or arrange, not be the front man. And Richard is a beatboxer. I'm sure he's never given a single thought about being the lead. His contributions can always be heard. Anyone else interested in singing lead can audition for next year."


	22. Chapter 22

Fourteen days of rehearsals, including two full-day weekend rehearsals were complete and they were on the bus to Buffalo for the semi finals. Kurt had a personal bodyguard with him. At least on the bus ride, the bodyguard was sitting up in the front by himself sleeping and not hanging around Kurt. He was already dreading having a shadow for the next two days. Plus, he had to agree to stay in the hotel for the whole trip. At least he and Thad had been to Niagara Falls before. He did feel bad for the guy because he'd have to stand guard outside their hotel room all night, but he figured that he was probably used to it.

They arrived in time to participate in the luncheon in the hotel for all of the performing groups. They all put their luggage in their rooms, then met back in the lobby. They were dressed in dark jeans and their sweater vests, not risking their slacks and blazers at lunch since the competition started at 3:00, giving them no time to clean them. Douglas became his constant companion. To make him look as inconspicuous as possible, he was dressed like Mr. Browning and Mr. Davis, who was their second chaperone for the trip.

After they finished eating, they returned to their rooms to change. They met in the lobby, headed to the auditorium and then into their warm up area. They drew 2nd out of 8 to perform. They warmed up doing some stretches and they sang through 'Skyscraper'. They were escorted to the stage and no one was allowed to stand in the wings on other sides during their performance.

They hit their marks, stayed on pitch, and stayed in sync. They exited off the stage off the same side they had entered and were escorted back to their room. From there, everyone except Kurt and Thad went out to watch the rest of the competition. Sebastian sent them recordings of each group so they wouldn't completely miss out. They sat on the small sofa that was along the back wall, snuggled up, kissing in between getting the vidoes. Douglas stood outside the door, preventing anyone from getting anywhere near them.

Once Kurt and Thad had seen the final group, they knew it wouldn't be long to find out whether they had made the top three. Sebastian texted them the instant the Warblers were named finalists. Kurt and Thad opened the door and showed Douglas the text. He escorted them to the stage and stood as close to Kurt as he could while being in the wings.

"In first place and moving on to the finals in New York City... the Dalton Academy Warblers"

They stayed in place. The council members moved forward to collect their trophy. They stayed in place until the curtain closed and then immediately Douglas was at Kurt's side. The group left the stage and headed to dinner in the hotel restaurant.

When the entered the hotel hallway, they were greeted with a "Surprise!" Several of the New Directions were standing in the hallway - Blaine, Rachel, Mercedes, Sam, and Tina. Mercedes and Tina approached Kurt, who stepped forward and hugged them. Sam hugged him next.

Blaine chatted with the Warblers he had been friends with. Rachel just stood there with him. Sebastian moved in closer to Kurt.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kurt asked.

Mercedes answered. "You guys pulled out of our Regionals and competed in Cleveland. You dropped out of the musical before that. We wanted to see you perform."

"You could have just waited until Nationals in a few weeks. You didn't need to drive six hours."

Sam said, "Well, we went to Niagara Falls before we came here and that was AWESOME."

"It really was," Tina said. "Are you guys going?"

"Tomorrow," Kurt said.

"Well, I'm sure you'll love it," Mercedes said.

"I don't think you've met, have you?" He pointed to Sebastian on his left, "This is Thad." Then he pointed to his right, "And this is our best friend Sebastian."

Kurt continued, "This is Mercedes and Tina"

"We'd heard about you having a boyfriend of course," Mercedes said. "It's nice to meet both of you."

"You too," Thad said.

Sebastian smiled and nodded.

"You didn't introduce Sam," Tina said.

"We already know Sam," Sebastian responded.

"Yep," Thad said and smiled, tipping his head up in greeting.

"Yeah, I met Thad like over a year ago. You guys are way behind the times. Westerville isn't in Siberia. You could have driven there."

"We're on our way to dinner. You guys could come," Kurt offered, trying to change the subject quickly.

"We can't. I'm sorry," Tina said. "I got my parents to agree to let me come and drive their SUV by promising we'd be back in Lima by midnight. Everyone's staying over at my place. We left at 4:00 this morning."

"Well, I hope you had fun."

"We did and now we know we have some stiff competition," Mercedes said. "You and Sebastian are good together." She stepped in closer to the two them. "Better than Blaine, but don't tell him I said that."

Kurt and Sebastian laughed. Kurt pretended to zip his lips shut.

"Congratulations on winning today. So, you're headed to another national competition in New York City?" Tina asked.

"That's the plan," Kurt said. "We won last year. We'll see if we can keep up our winning streak."

"I hope you win." Tina said.

"Thanks," Kurt said.

Sam pulled out his phone. "We gotta head out or we'll be late getting back to Tina's." He stepped back toward Kurt and gave him another hug. "See ya!"

"Bye, Sam," Thad said.

"Nice to meet you ladies," Sebastian said.

The three of them grabbed Blaine and Rachel and walked toward the hotel lobby.

"Well, that was a surprise," Kurt said. "Let's go eat." They headed to the left, toward the restaurant.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Douglas sat to the left of Kurt, with Thad on his other side, Sebastian next to Thad. After dinner, all of the participants had the option to go watch a movie being shown in he auditorium. Kurt and Thad were given the option of attending and sitting in the back row between Douglas and Mr. Browning or spending the evening in their room. Kurt and Thad decided to be with their friends since they had to spend the next day in their room.

After the movie, Douglas escorted Kurt and Thad back to their room, which was away from everyone else's due to their need for a handicap-accessible room. Mr. Browning and Mr. Davis escorted everyone else up to the third floor to their group of rooms.

Kurt and Thad opened the door to their room. Douglas checked that the room and bathroom were empty. He left. Kurt and Thad went in and shut the door behind them. They took their blazers off and hung them up in their garment bag. Kurt took pajama pants out of their bag and laid them on the nightstand in case they needed them. He noticed that the light on the phone was flashing. He pointed out the flashing light to Thad.

"I think that means that we have a message."

Kurt picked up the phone and dialed the numbers indicated on the card in front of the phone.

"This is the front desk, how I can help you?"

"Well, the light is flashing on our phone. Does that mean we have a message?"

"Oh, yes. Just a minute." He could hear the attendant looking through some papers.

"Yes, there's an envelope for you here at the front desk. You just need to come pick it up."

"Alright. Thank you." Kurt hung up.

"An envelope?" Thad asked.

"Yeah. Let's go get Douglas."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt opened the door to the room. He could tell that he had made Douglas jump.

"Is there a problem?" Douglas asked.

"The light was flashing on our phone and the front desk said that there is an envelope at the front desk."

"Alright, come on."

The three of them walked to the front desk and asked for the envelope.

Kurt took it since it had his name written on it. He opened it. It contained a single sheet of paper with a single line of typed print.

A single bodyguard can't protect everyone you love.

Kurt put the sheet of paper back in the envelope, turned and started to walk back through the lobby toward their room. Thad and Douglas followed.

Douglas had no choice by to call Mr. Browning. He came down to Kurt and Thad's room about 10 minutes later. Kurt let him in the room, and he sat down in the desk chair.

"Well someone isn't doing their job. I specifically said that no one could given information about Kurt or Thad's whereabouts," Douglas said to Mr. Browning. "Did you inform the front desk of that?"

"I did. I swear. Kurt and Thad's safety is my top priority," he insisted.

"Well, you're going to sit in this room with them until I come back. Do NOT open the door unless you see that it's me. I mean it."

Mr. Browning sat down in the desk chair. Douglas stomped out of the door with a murderous gleam in his eye for whoever had given out Kurt and Thad's room number.

Kurt hadn't said a word since he saw what the note said. He and Thad were sitting side by side on the edge of the bed.

"I'm sorry, Kurt. I don't know how this happened. "We put you separate from everyone else and made sure that no one followed the three of you down the hallway."

Kurt took a deep breath and exhaled loudly and said, "More than likely whoever it is wouldn't risk walking up to the front desk and asking for information. They wouldn't want their face to be caught on security cameras. I doubt anyone gave out our room number. We should have had Douglas stand guard INSIDE the room. Whoever is doing this just had to wait until everyone else left the lobby and then look down this hall to see Douglas standing outside our door. Once we met again to go perform, whoever it is had free reign to ask anyone standing around to give the envelope to the front desk clerk. Since the people most likely to be involved in this are high school students, they wouldn't stick out just sitting around since there are a hundred other high school students wandering around this hotel today. A simple, 'Hey, dude, I'm late to rehearsal, but I found this on the floor can you turn it in at the front desk?' would have gotten the average high school to just take the envelope from the person and turn it in."

Thad spoke up. "The letter is just to prove to us that Kurt's stalkers have been here. Maybe they're still here, maybe they left. Either way, I don't think we're actually in any danger as long as Douglas stays awake and doesn't let anyone get inside our room. It's just psychological warfare at this point. Proving to us that we can't escape their watchful eye. I hate these people."

"What I see in the short message is that it's not just me and Thad being threatened now. 'Everyone I love' includes more than just Thad. My family, Sebastian, the Warblers? How far does 'everyone I love' extend?"

By then, Douglas was back. "They have security footage of the front desk area, if we want to look through it to see if you can identify whoever dropped it off."

"Nah. Does it matter? The letter itself, just like the others, doesn't say anything specific enough to constitute an actual threat. I mean, I'll go watch them if you want, but I think there's a 95% chance that it's what I said to Mr. Browning when you were gone."

"And what was that?"

"That whoever wrote this note stopped someone in one of the hallways and said 'I found this on the floor, but I'm late to rehearsal. Can you take it to the front desk so they can get it back to the person it belongs to?' And presto, scapegoat - someone who has no idea that they're being used."

"Whoever it was saw that Kurt had a bodyguard and realized that they had no chance of getting close to Kurt, but they could still scare him," Thad added.

"So, our options are?" Mr. Browning asked.

"They stay here. I guard them."

"I agree," Kurt said. "Whoever it is already knows that they can't get to me here."

"Alright then, we'll just get ready for bed and Mr. Browning can go back to helping Mr. Davis keep an eye on the rest of the Warblers and Douglas stands outside in the hallway making sure that no one gets in here overnight," Thad said.

"Alright, I'll leave you three here. I'll see you in the morning at breakfast." Mr. Browning got up and walked toward the door.

Douglas followed him out.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Alright, gorgeous, I have plans for you in that shower in the other room," Thad said as he wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck.

"Is that so?"

"It is."

Kurt finished what he had started before he saw the flashing light on the nightstand phone. He undressed and put his dirty clothes in their bag. Thad did the same. They headed into the bathroom and took their time bathing each other and enjoying each other's company. They had both looked forward to a weekend alone and Kurt was doing everything in his power to not let another threatening letter ruin it for them.

Kurt and Thad dried off and moved into the room and got in bed. Thad took his brace back off while Kurt searched the TV channels for one that played music. Their plans didn't involve going to sleep and Kurt hoped the music from the TV would block any noise they made from being heard on the other side of the door.

Once Kurt had the music playing, he put the remote down on the nightstand. He pulled the covers up and snuggled in with Thad. They lay facing each other in silence for a while. Kurt was the first to move. He ran his hand down Thad's cheek, slid it around behind his ear and drew him closer. He initiated a kiss that seemed to ignite Thad. He realized that Thad had been waiting to see if he was okay and wasn't going to do anything but be there for him if that's what he needed. Kurt ran his hand down Thad's arm and slip his hand between Thad's arm and side. He wrapped his arm around Thad's back and pulled them as close together as he could manage.

"We've been married for a month and it won't be long before we'll be off to Florida and then on to France."

"I know. I'm excited. Are you?"

"I'm getting there. Do you want to tell your parents that we got married?"

"Of course. As soon as we're out of school and we all get to Florida. They haven't figured out exactly when they can come. I was hoping you'd want to tell them then."

"Sure. Will they be upset? I know you said they wouldn't be, but are you sure?"

"I'm sure. They both know how much I love you."

"I love you so much. There are times when I see you across the room and you catch my eye. They way that you look at me makes me just shake my head and think that I must be dreaming. Granted some parts of all of this are a nightmare, but the rest is all just beyond anything I had ever considered."

He flipped them so that Thad was on his back. He started kissing down his neck and his shoulders.

Thad wrapped his hands around Kurt's face gently and guided him back to where he could kiss him. "You're not the only one that feels that way. When I look up sometimes and you're looking at me. I can feel the love from across the room. You're eyes light up every time we make eye contact. You make me feel like the luckiest guy in the world." Thad leaned up just enough to kiss Kurt and then relaxed back down in the bed as they continued kissing.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, they got up and showered, not wanting to show up to breakfast with their friends in the state they were in. Once they were ready, they knocked on the door in case Douglas was leaning against it. They opened the door afterwards. Douglas walked them to the restaurant and sat next to Kurt.

Everyone was talking excitedly about going to Niagara Falls. Most of them hadn't been there before. It was hard on Kurt because he really wanted to go with his friends. He took Thad's hand under the table, but he leaned the other direction.

He spoke quietly where only Douglas could hear him. "Since I'm pretty sure that whoever it is gave up and left after they saw you with me, what do you think of us being able to go with everyone else today?"

"That's up to you. I'll go wherever you go. That's the way this works. I'm armed. I do this for a living. I can protect you as long as you stay with me."

Kurt turned to Thad and whispered directly into his ear. "How would you feel about going with them?"

"Do you want to?"

"I do. I mean I know we went before, just a month ago, but it was beautiful and we're so close."

Thad nodded and squeezed Kurt's hand.

Kurt turned back to Douglas. "We want to go."

"Alright." Douglas said.

David stood up. The group quieted down. He sat back down and spoke at a regular volume. "We're meeting in the lobby in 20 minutes. If you're not already packed, get up and go with Mr. Davis up to the rooms and get your stuff ready to go."

Several people stood up to head up to the rooms. Kurt, Thad, and Douglas moved around the table so that Kurt could speak to Mr. Browning.

"As long as it's still okay, Thad and I would like to go with the rest of the group. Douglas is fine with it. I was the one that was too scared, but after last night, I'm convinced that whoever it was left because they saw that they can't get to me here. I'm never alone. These people have never attacked when I am surrounded by other people or when I'm with someone big enough to defend me from them."

"Alright. Get packed and be in the lobby in 15 minutes. Stand to the side near a wall so that Douglas can be between you and the throngs of high school students milling around here."

The three of them left. Kurt and Thad put their dark jeans, button ups, vests and letter jackets on and packed everything else up as quickly as possible. Thad carried the garment bag with their blazers in it. Kurt carried everything else. They gave Mr. Davis their card key and stood against the wall like they were asked.

It didn't take two minutes before Sebastian was at his side with a big smile on his face. Then Jeff and Nick noticed he was there and came to stand with him too. Jeff was full of energy.

"I'm so excited. I never been," he said. He put his arms around Kurt and Nick's shoulders. "We have to get a group photo of all of us there in our jackets."

"That's a good idea," Kurt said. "We'll get one of the teachers to take it."

Everyone finally made it down. Mr. Browning pulled up and everyone filed out, loading their luggage in the front seats of the minibus and moving to the back to sit down. They left the front seat open for Douglas again.

Once Mr. Davis had settled their bill and had gotten on the bus, Mr. Browning shut the door and they headed toward Niagara Falls.

"We're dividing into groups. Kurt, Thad, Sebastian, Nick, and Jeff are together. Trent, David, Flint, Jamison, Xavier, and John are with me. Liam, Michael, Bradford, Joshua, Luke, Richard, and Thomas are with Mr. Browning."

Kurt spoke up. "Mr. Davis, Jeff made a good suggestion earlier. Before we break off into groups, can you or Mr. Browning take a photo of all of us together in our jackets? We'd like a semi-casual group shot of all of us."

"Sure, Kurt. When we get off the bus, we'll stick together until we get somewhere we can do that. Then we can split apart if we need to. I only divided us up so that if we end up in places that 21 people can't fit at the same time, we can keep track of all of you. We're going to hold off on lunch until we are headed back toward Ohio, so we can do as much sightseeing as we can. We're supposed to be back at the school at 8:00. So, we need to head out by 2:00, so that's when we'll all meet back at the bus if our group gets separated. If you get separated from your small group, stay where you are. Do not move to look for anyone. Call someone else in your group, so your group can come to you."

Everyone nodded.

Mr. Davis sat down and everyone went back to talking.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"You do know, these seats are meant for two people, right?" Kurt asked Sebastian.

"You do know there were two beds in your room last night and that I could have stayed with you, but you two made me sleep with people who didn't let me sleep."

"What makes you think you would have been able to sleep in our room?" Thad asked very quietly, waggling his eyebrows.

"Oh, my God, we are not having this conversation," Kurt said giving Thad "the look".

"I see," Sebastian laughed. "That is not where I thought this conversation was headed. I figured Kurt would tease me and then let me stay with you two in New York City."

"Well, that can be arranged. And we'll let you sleep," Kurt said.

"Enough NyQuil and you can sleep through anything," Thad deadpanned.

"Now, this is a change," Sebastian laughed. "Are we playing Freaky Friday or something?"

"Maybe too much bliss causes his filter to break," Kurt offered.

Sebastian laughed so hard he nearly choked. "There we go. Now, the world is righting itself."

Jeff popped up from the seat in front of them. "What so funny back there?" Jeff asked.

"Nothing," Kurt responded.

"Yeah, sure. I'm glad you two changed your minds and you're coming with us."

Nick got up on his knees and leaned on the seat back as well. "Me too." He noticed the sleeve on Sebastian's jacket. "Lacrosse team captain. When did that happen?"

"About two or three weeks ago," Sebastian answered. He smiled remembering how Kurt had thrown him a party in his room with a homemade cake. "But I just got the patch sewn on this past week."

"Well, congratulations!" Nick said.

"Thanks."

"I'm glad we won," Jeff said. "Now, we'll get to go back to New York City. Please let us be your roommates again."

"Now, wait. I already asked to be their roommate," Sebastian said.

"We'll get a roll out added to the room," Kurt said.

"Okay," Jeff agreed.

They spent the rest of the bus ride talking about seeing the falls, things they'd like to do in New York City and in Chicago.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad shook hands with Douglas in the hallway.

"Thanks for keeping us safe," Kurt said.

"All in the job description," Douglas said.

"If we need personal security again, we'll be sure to call."

Douglas nodded and went back out the back of the school.

The Warblers had left the hallway by then. Kurt, Thad, Sebastian and Mr. Browning were the only ones left.

"I wish there were something I could do. I think everyone who knows you wishes there were something that could be done. I'm glad you two went with us to the falls. I didn't want to leave you behind, but I would have understood if you had been too scared to go out in public."

"It's nerve wracking. Losing personal freedom is hard. It's honestly like being under house arrest. Granted the school is lovely, but it also makes a beautiful prison if you're forced to stay inside all the time. I miss going outside on the grounds. That's one thing that Thad and I used to do a lot. We took walks through the woods on the school property. It's relaxing and a nice break from all of the studying we do here."

"I can only imagine. You and Sebastian did a great job on lead vocals yesterday. And your arrangements were amazing, Thad. The group is going to struggle next fall without the three of you here. Plus, Richard, Nick, and Jeff are leaving too. The group will have to rebuild."

"I hope they do. If everyone comes back, there will be 12 members left. That's about what we had last year, but I know it won't be the same. Losing Thad will be the hardest. Finding someone who can arrange them music will be hard. They may turn to you for help," Kurt said.

"I'll do what I can, but I'm no where near as good at as Thad is," Mr. Browning said.

"Thanks," Thad said.

"Oh, you can go ahead and put our trophies and pictures in the case. It's obvious that no matter how much effort we all put into keeping our itineraries secret, the information gets out anyway. I know they're taking up room in your office. Put them out for display."

"Alright. I'll do that tomorrow. Have a good evening," he said as he walked toward his office.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

David called their meeting to order on Monday afternoon.

"I need two volunteers to oversee two committees that we are forming. One group will plan our trip to New York and one will plan our trip to Chicago. We'll need people who are organized. We need hotel reservations and dinner reservations. Any field trips or outings will need to be arranged in advance. School groups get big discounts on field trips, and sometimes we can get discounts on other things, like shows. All of the options for field trips and outings will be brought before the group and voted on. Anyone interested in these committees needs to sign up before they leave today." He laid a sheet of paper on the desk.

Thad stood next. "We have seven weeks of school left. In three weeks, we'll be heading to New York. Three weeks after that, we'll be headed to Chicago. So if we start counting now - at the end of week 3 is our trip to New York, week 5 is AP exams for the upper classmen in AP classes, the end of week 6 is our trip to Chicago, which is followed immediately by weeks 7 which is finals. We will be performing at graduation, which is the end of week 7. We will be very, very busy. Everyone needs to focus on being organized. For the younger students, please feel free to visit Miss Webber, the school's most excellent student advisor and counselor. She will be more than happy to help you arrange your workload so that you get everything done. Don't feel bad to ask for help. It's better to ask for help you might only sort of need, than to struggle with something someone could have helped you learn to do better."

Trent was the last to speak. "Lastly we just want to thank everyone for all of your hard work this year. We are headed to two national competitions. It's really amazing. We're going to sing for fun for the rest of the period today. Anyone who wants to suggest a song, just stand up and start to sing. We'll all do our best to join in and have a good time."

The suggestions started and the music soared through the room for the next 45 minutes. Everyone left with smiles on their faces. Sometimes music just needed to be fun.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next day after rehearsal was Kurt's weekly call to Burt.

"Hey, Dad!"

"Hey, kiddo. I heard you guys won in Buffalo, was it?"

"Yeah, we did. We're moving on in the competition. It's the one we won last year."

"And you made it to nationals in Chicago too?"

"Yep, we did. We're doing both this year. I don't figure we'll win in Chicago, but we'll do our best. I mean I'm not expecting to win in New York. It's just more likely. I don't think any a cappella group has ever won the Show Choir Nationals."

"How's school going?"

"It's hard like always. It's not that I can't learn the material. We just have a lot more work, like I always say. At McKinley, I had to write one or two papers a semester for a class. Here it's more like two a month in each class like English, History, Government, and French. I write a lot of papers."

"It sounds like it."

"How are things with you?"

"Eh, we've had some minor vandalism. Not sure what's going on."

"What happened?"

"Oh, just little things. Our garden hose vanished. One morning Carole went out and the air had been let out of all of her tires. No damage to the tires, just all flat. The little red flag on the mailbox is gone. Seems like the kind of stuff middle school students would do on a bet. It's annoying though."

"I know. We've had way too much stuff like that happen to our property. I'm glad it hasn't been anything major."

"Yeah, me too."

"The New Directions are really hyped up for Nationals. They've actually started rehearsing already, which, from what Finn has said, is unheard of."

"That's true. Mr. Schue had them working new songs the night before Nationals last year from what Finn said. To be starting already, all I can say is that it's probably Blaine, backed by Rachel. Being in the Warblers, he's used to practicing for ages to be able to perform the way we do."

"You may be right. Finn says the two of them are definitely the club leaders, but like I said, ever since he and Dave have gotten tight, things have been a lot better for him. He and Puck still hang out some, but there's always the underlying tension there."

"Yeah. What have you been doing in DC?" Kurt managed to get him on a topic that he could talk about for a long time.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad went to every home lacrosse game and cheered Sebastian on. Most of the games, Art showed up too. Their 13th game was on the Friday night the week before they were heading to New York.

Kurt and Art stood away from the bleachers talking while the teams were warming up.

"So, what have you decided about New York, Kurt?" Art asked. "Are you taking Douglas again?"

"I don't know what to do. I don't want to spend the money to be honest. I can't honestly see how any of them would be willing to drive 9 hours each way just to harass me when they are already aware that I will not be left alone so they have no chance of getting to me to hurt me. But at the same time, I don't want to put anyone else at risk without some type of protection."

"I know it's a tough choice. Buffalo was only about 5 hours each way so it could be done in a single day. But you're right 9 hours each way makes it a lot longer and use twice as much gas. If they stay overnight, that's a lot of money."

"I didn't think they'd bother going to Buffalo though. So, who knows. Splitting the driving would make it doable."

"Have you told your parents your college plans yet?"

"No. Well, I told him applied to some places that are far away. He asked how far and I said Alaska far."

"I see."

"I don't know what else to do. He's being vandalized already. The last letter said that one bodyguard can't protect everyone I love. A few days later, the vandalism started. It's minor stuff now. But I just can't tell him. I just want the school year to end, but yet I don't because I'll miss a lot of people when it's over. But I need to get far away from here so this whole mess ends."

The game was getting ready to start and Art and Kurt made their way to the stands and sat with Thad. Thad offered his hand as Kurt sat down. He gratefully took it and felt better the instant he did. He turned to Thad and smiled. Thad scooted a little closer.

Kurt let the conversation with Art drift away as he got into watching Sebastian play. They game seemed to fly by as usual. Lacrosse was so fast paced that he found that he actually liked watching it. The three of them waited for Sebastian to come back outside after he had showered. Kurt hugged him and Thad congratulated him on the team win. Art pulled him into a hug too.

"I'm so proud of you Sebastian. You've worked really hard and you've gotten the team to work together."

"Thanks, Dad."

"I have a surprise tonight."

Sebastian tip his head slightly, interest piqued.

"I have a pass to come inside this evening. I'm ordering in so we can all eat together. Headmaster Carlson is letting us use the Warbler's room. I ordered food when the game finished, so we should able to wait a few minutes at the front and then take it inside and eat."

They went back inside the building and walked through the interior to get to the front door. They didn't have to wait long. The delivery driver brought it up in a box. Sebastian grabbed it and they all headed to the Warblers room and shut both sets of doors.

"Thanks for dinner, Dad."

"I realized that I miss you and your friends coming to the house to visit. I'm running out of time to spend with you and so..."

"It was a great idea," Sebastian interrupted. He distributed the containers, utensils and drinks. Everyone got started on their dinners.

"So, you are headed to New York next weekend."

"We are," Kurt answered. "I think it's our best shot at winning a national title. I don't really think we can win the Show Choir Nationals in Chicago, but I'm going to give it my best shot."

"Why don't you think you can win?" Art asked.

Thad answered, "The other groups use full band or orchestra backing tapes and they have girls."

Sebastian agreed. "We've watched videos of the past five years' winning performances. The girls have amazing dresses that add to the choreography - the swish and swirl, the twirling and the colors. Plus, a lot of the winning groups are larger than our group. So, they have multiple people singing the same part making their singing sound really full."

"I think it's like comparing Florida avocados to California avocados," Thad added. "The winners have just had a bigger sound and more flair than we can produce with just our voices in our uniforms. Gray pants, white shirts and navy blazers do not make us stand out visually."

"I see. So, wearing something more flashy would help?"

"Definitely," Kurt said.

"Who made the rule that you can't wear something different?"

"No idea," Thad said. "It's just been that way forever. Representing the school at any non-sport competition has always required the students to be in their full dress uniform, no sweater vests or cardigans - blazers only."

'Here, let me show you." Kurt took his phone out and pulled up a video of Vocal Adrenaline when Shelby was still their coach. "Watch this."

Art took the phone and watched about two minutes of the video. "Ah, I see what you mean. The larger group and those big dresses fill the stage. And their sound is stronger because they have about twice as many singers as you do. You're analogy was good, Thad."

"It's okay that we won't win. Maybe next year, the school might allow the Warblers to wear something more flashy for show choir competitions and keep the jackets and ties for the a cappella competitions," Kurt said.

"Just the fact that an a cappella group even made it is a big deal," Sebastian said. "From my understanding, the Warblers haven't made it to Nationals before."

Art nodded. "The lacrosse team is doing well. You've won 11 of 13 games so far?"

"Yep," Sebastian answered.

"When are you planning to leave?"

"June 3rd. I'm going to Florida for a few days with Kurt and Thad and then I have to fly back to Paris."

"Why so soon?"

"I guess _Maman_ didn't tell you." Sebastian took a deep breath and let it out. "She's getting married June 9th. I have to be there a few days before the wedding to help her move her stuff out of our flat and do a few things for the reception."

"I see. No, she didn't tell me. So, you're going to live in the flat alone?"

"No, Kurt and Thad are going to take _Maman's_ room."

"Well, I'm glad you'll be together. I knew that they were going to school in France, but you hadn't said anything about their living arrangements."

"That's because back then, I didn't know _Maman_ was getting married. It doesn't make sense for Kurt and Thad to work a ton of hours to pay for a place to live when they could live with me and focus on their schoolwork," Sebastian said. "You're not angry are you?"

"No, no. Of course not Sebastian. If I sounded upset, it was more that I was surprised by what you had said. Your mother hadn't married in all these years, I guess I just figured that she wasn't going to."

"Yeah," Sebastian half mumbled.

"He doesn't treat you badly does he?"

"No. He's a nice guy. He's a school teacher, like _Maman_."

"That's good," Art said.

They continued talking while they finished up eating. "We have a TV we could bring in here and watch a movie, if you'd like," Thad said.

"Sure," Art said.

"I'll go get it," Kurt said. He brought it in on a rolling cart and put it facing one the couches so they could sit one couch and watch.

They chose a movie and settled in on the couch. Thad on one end, then Kurt, then Sebastian and Art on the other end. Once it was over, Kurt put the TV away while Thad collected up the trash and put it back in the box.

"It was good to see you tonight," Thad said.

"Yes, and thanks for dinner. It was really good," Kurt said. "I'll get rid of the trash."

The two of them headed for the door, leaving Sebastian to have some time alone with Art.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad headed back to their room. Thad was playing with Kurt's hand, gently tickling and interlacing their fingers, only to slip them free and massage it, back to ticking all the way back to their room. By the time they got to their room, he had Kurt struggling to keep from kissing him right on the stairs. They had plenty of schoolwork to do, but they chose to put it off.

Kurt got the door shut behind them. Thad didn't get but two steps inside the door before Kurt turned him and wrapped his arms around his waist. Thad put his hands in Kurt's hair and on the back of his neck and gently pulled him close enough to kiss.

"Shower, snuggle, more kissing. Lots more kissing. Like kissing you everywhere kissing." Thad started to undress Kurt.

"Hold that thought." Kurt e ran into the bathroom and locked Sebastian out and came back. "Ready."

They undressed each other and got in the shower and out quickly, not wanting to have Sebastian arrive and be locked out for a long time after a long day. Kurt unlocked Sebastian's side of the bathroom, exited into their room, and locked the door from their side.

Thad was already in bed with his brace off. Kurt grabbed pajamas like always, and laid them on Thad's desk next to the bed. Kurt turned off the light and got in bed. He had barely gotten the covers over them before Thad had started kissing him again. Thad got up on his hands and knees and started kissing Kurt everywhere like he had said he wanted to.

There was lots more kissing, just like Thad was hoping for.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They spent the weekend studying until they thought their heads might explode. Finally Sunday afternoon before dinner, Thad had burned out.

"We have to do something besides study, even if it's just for an hour."

"Did you have something in mind?"

"Well, I have lots of things in mind, but most of them we can't do right now. But some of them..."

"Quiet hours are over. We could turn the music up."

"That's a start."

Kurt got up and turned the music up.

"Lock the bathroom door and make sure our room door is locked."

Kurt did those things.

"Come closer," Thad had his brace off and was sitting on their bed. "Closer."

Kurt leaned over.

Thad whispered in his ear. "How about a strip tease?"

"Seriously?"

"You asked what was on my mind."

"Alright."

"Really?"

"I don't see why not, well, let me close the curtains." He pulled them shut. "There." He moved toward the middle of the room. "This music isn't going to cut it though." He scrolled through the iPod and found some jazzy music with a good dance beat. He started with a sock, then another. He shimmied and swayed and pulled out all of the stops for totally sexy dance for Thad. When he got down to just his underwear, he looked a bit hesitant to go any farther.

Thad could tell he'd reach his limit for his first time. He clapped softly and wolf-whistled quietly. He patted the bed for Kurt to come sit next to him. "That was hot. You are so sexy." Thad kissed him.

"You have too many clothes on compared to me." Kurt pulled Thad's sweatshirt off over his head and ran his hands down his chest. "Much better."

Thad leaned in and barely whispered, "Can we...will you...do you want to?"

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian came back to his room from working on a project and knocked on Kurt and Thad's door to go down to dinner with him.

"Who is it?"

"Sebastian."

"Um, give us five minutes. We'll be right out."

"Knock on my door when you're ready."

Kurt was trying so hard not to laugh. "Come on Thad, get your brace on. I'll see what I can do about my hair. I'm not sure I can get rid of this look without a shower.

"Me neither."

"Come on then. We have to hurry. Dinner closes in like 20 minutes."

Thad ended up washing his hair or fixing it somehow in the sink. Kurt showered lightning fast. They redressed and knocked on Sebastian's door 10 minutes later.

"Um hmm." He just laughed at the two of them. "Wet hair at dinner. That's not really all that subtle."

"Well, it beats how it looked 10 minutes ago," Kurt said rolling his eyes. "Enough talk about wet hair. Let's go before we can't get in the cafeteria."

Sebastian kept laughing sporadically on the way down to the cafeteria.

"Enough, please. Don't make everyone stare at us," Kurt asked.

"Alright. I can get it together," Sebastian said as he opened the door.

They got in line, grabbed what they wanted, and sat down together.

"I'm sorry for teasing you."

"It's fine. It was funny. I was laughing when I answered the door. I just don't want to be the talk of the school."

"I don't think anyone will think less of you, if that's what you think," Sebastian said. "The two of you have been together for over a year."

"I'm more leery of someone in administration finding out and then being told that we broke some rule I don't know about and get kicked out five weeks before we graduate," Kurt said.

"It was my doing. I was the one who asked for…"

"Nothing. He asked for nothing."

Sebastian had to cover his mouth to keep from spitting food out. He had to focus on chewing and not choking. "You can tell me later, Thad." Sebastian winked.

"What?" Kurt asked flabbergasted.

"That look. The look that could kill a mere mortal. It's a good thing that being your best friend has made me able to withstand the laser eyes." Sebastian laughed again.

"Very funny. Ha, ha," Kurt deadpanned.

"That's what he said," Thad responded.

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"New topic. New York City."

" _Peter and the Starcatcher!_ "

"We know you're excited. Is that all you're looking forward to?" Sebastian asked.

"No. Whatever else we go see or do will be amazing."

"Except, sharing a room with three people besides Kurt," Thad said.

"Hey, you hogged him in Buffalo," Sebastian said.

Kurt preened and turned his nose up. "I'm just too popular." Then he burst out laughing.

"Why are you laughing? Everyone likes you. I haven't met a single person in this whole school who doesn't like you," Sebastian said.

"It's true," Thad said.

Kurt just looked straight ahead, holding his tongue because he had learned not to insult himself because of Thad's intervention. He hadn't yet overcome thinking the thoughts, but he had learned not to say them out loud.

"So, what are you looking forward to Sebastian," Kurt tried to change the subject.

"In absolute honesty, I am looking forward to June." His eyes indicated what he was referring to. They never discussed it anywhere but in their rooms.

"I can see why. I think things are ending differently that you had expected though," Kurt said.

"Yeah. Things are a lot different than I had believed they were when I got here nearly 9 months ago. I never thought I'd leave and end up missing my dad and I know I will."

"And nine months ago, you didn't have any friends nearly as fabulous as me," Kurt teased to lighten the mood.

"Well, that's for sure. There's only one you. No one else could ever be so fabulous," Sebastian laughed.

"You know it."

They kept up with their silly banter until they had finished eating and then they headed back upstairs.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Okay, you can open your eyes now," Kurt said.

"You're back is turned," Sebastian said. "Turn around."

"Just making sure you weren't peeking." Kurt rolled his sleeve up to show Sebastian, and then turned around.

"Oh, wow. It looks great. Let me see yours now, Thad."

Thad rolled just slid his sleeve up without all of the pomp.

"Ooh. That's really nice. It suits you. Whoever did yours has an amazingly steady hand to get those fine lines done so well," Sebastian said as he looked at it closely.

"So, how about you? You could get one when we go after graduation."

"Umm. I'm scared of needles, and pain in general."

"You play lacrosse. You're not afraid of pain," Kurt said.

"Okay, okay. Just needles. I'm afraid of needles."

"You could use my numbing cream. It really did help."

"He's right," Thad agreed.

"I'll think about it, but don't hold your breath. I like both of yours though. The person who did yours, Kurt, did an amazing job. It's like there was nothing ever there but your skin."

"I know. I cried when he finished. I mean bawled. He did a great job."

"Tattoo reveal is over. Back to being studious almost high school graduates."

"Yes, Mom," Sebastian said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Kurt shoved him toward the bathroom door. "If you're staying get something to study."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Tuesday Sebastian's lacrosse game was an away game, so Kurt couldn't go. Thad was off at physical therapy and it was time to call his dad.

"Hey, Dad. How are things?"

"About the same. Some tools have gone missing. Can't figure out how. Nothing expensive enough to warrant installing video cameras in the shop, but it's annoying. Some minor graffiti. We bought a super long hose to use from the back spigot so that we don't need one in the front. I replaced it twice and that was enough."

"I had hoped it had stopped."

"You and me both. There's not much for me to tell. We're headed to New York this weekend. I'll send you a video afterwards, like usual."

"I want all of us to get together soon."

"Well, you know where to find me. And you know you can get passes to be in the building."

"You're traveling out of state, but can't come here?"

"Well, I have no transportation to get there. And I've been taking a bodyguard out of state."

"What?"

"He's going this weekend as well."

"How can you afford that?"

"The school is letting the Warblers fund his airplane ticket and his meals, since he's a pseudo chaperone. I'm paying for his actual personal security fee."

"That's so messed up."

"It is, but I lost my role in _Seussical_ that I earned worked hard for. I wasn't going to lose my lead and being in the competitions. It's the only thing I have had for months. I can't leave campus. I can't even go outside anymore. I sit in the cafeteria courtyard when I can manage it, but I'm like a prisoner here, Dad. The Warblers is all I've had all semester and I don't want to give it up. We're good. The bodyguard is the price I pay to do what I love."

"Well, I hope you have a great time."

"I'm sure it will be fantastic. We're going to a Broadway show again this year - a new one. I need to get going. I have to get seven days of work done in four days in order to enjoy my time in New York. I'll call you again next week."

"Alright. Talk to you soon, kiddo."

"Bye, Dad."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

By Friday morning, all of the Warblers were burned out from schoolwork and completely ready to head out to New York. Surprisingly, Headmaster Carlson drove them to the airport. He gave them a pep talk before they got off the minibus.

Everyone grabbed their bags and headed to the check-in area.

Four hours later, they had landed and were on a shuttle to their hotel. They dropped their bags off and headed off for their planned sightseeing.

They got back in time to change to go out to dinner and to the show. Kurt was really excited because the show had just opened about two weeks earlier. They all filed into their seats and settled in for the show, which they all ended up liking. Kurt, Thad, and Douglas took a cab back to the hotel instead of the subway. They ended up booking a larger room for the 5 guys that wanted to room together and Douglas. They had one fold out bed for Douglas. Sebastian was going to sleep on the fold out couch.

Kurt and Sebastian showered first and put on pajama pants and t-shirts before they came back out into the room.

"Woah! Those rock!" Jeff said pointing to Kurt and Thad's arms.

"Oh, yeah. You can't tell anyone. The handbook says the school prohibits visible tattoos. We always wear long sleeves because of the school dress code, so we think they're okay, but we don't want to find out otherwise with only four weeks until graduation."

"Our lips are sealed," Nick said. "You know you can trust us."

"I do. You have no idea how much it means to me to have four trustworthy friends," Kurt said.

Jeff and Nick got up and took closer looks at their arms.

"I like them both. They're different, but really cool. Did it hurt?" Nick asked.

"We used numbing cream," Kurt said. "It helped a lot I think."

"I think worse than the process of getting it was the process of it healing. When it peels it itches and we were wearing bandages and sports sleeves to keep the bandages covered and in place. There's cream that helps with the itching, but we couldn't take our shirts off, the sleeve off, the bandage off and apply more cream when we were in class," Thad added.

"I might like to get one some time," Jeff said. "I'd have to find something I'd really like first though. Something personal like you two did."

Sebastian headed to the shower.

"You weren't surprised," Nick pointed out.

"They showed me Sunday night. They were waiting until they were healed before they showed anyone."

"When did you get them?" Jeff asked.

"Spring break," Thad answered.

"So, you got them in Florida?" Nick asked.

"Yep. We went to see a guy who specializes in tattoos to cover scars," Kurt said.

"Well, he did a great job. I even know that you had scars there, but I don't see them," Nick said.

"That's what I wanted. I wanted people to see a cool design on my arm, and never, ever ask me about the scars."

"Well, he succeeded," Jeff said. "The scars are perfectly camouflaged."

Kurt could see Douglas trying to mind his own business, but he was able to hear them. Kurt walked over to him.

"The second time I was assaulted last fall, my attacker cut my arm up with an exacto knife." He showed Douglas his arm.

"The guy did a good job with your tattoo. Where'd you go?"

"I'll get you the shop info later."

"Alright."

"And you can't tell anyone at the school about our tattoos. We're not 100% sure they're allowed. Like you heard us say, the rules say no visible tattoos, but they don't indicate what type of clothing the person is wearing. So, we don't know whether that includes our forearms since obviously they show when we wear t-shirts. But the school doesn't allow us to wear short-sleeved shirts, except for sporting events and football is over. Even during football I wore an athletic sleeve to cover over the scars and to keep the bandages in place."

"You played football with your arm cut up?"

"His other arm was in a cast, he had bruised ribs and was recovering from a concussion," Thad pointed out.

"Wow."

"Alright, let's go to sleep. We have to get up early in the morning," Kurt said, pushing the focus away from the attacks.

Douglas went to the bathroom and pushed the fold out bed in front of the door and lay down.

Everyone else got in bed too.

Thad took his brace off in the dark and Kurt put it on the nightstand. Kurt climbed into bed. It was weird sleeping in their pajamas again. Kurt curled up with his head on Thad's chest and his right leg over the top of Thad's, intertwining their legs. He slid his hand and arm up under Thad's t-shirt and gently caressed his skin.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, they all made it down to breakfast on time and met up with the rest of the group. Everyone met in the lobby. Mr. Browning was at the front desk working on arranging transportation for the day. He called Kurt over to he desk. Douglas, Thad, and Sebastian followed him.

"The clerk says there's a message for you, Kurt. You don't have to pick it up, if you don't want to," Mr. Browning said.

"We all know what it's going to say more or less." Kurt turned to the clerk and held his hand out and took the slip of paper. "Thank you." He unfolded the slip of paper. "It's more of the same. It says 'You never listen, do you? But you still have time.'"

"Alright then, let's go eat breakfast," Mr. Browning said.

Kurt hung back and let the rest of the group walk ahead of him. Douglas stayed by his side, as did Thad. Sebastian walked next to Thad.

"I know I'm going against what I was told. I guess I'm just hoping that since I'm certain these are high school students that none of them have the nerve to actually do something to my father personally. It seems like a really stupid idea to go after a US congressman. I would think that even prejudiced high school students would realize that a physical attack on a US congressman would be a really bad life choice."

"But you're scared that they're going to?"

"My dad's home and shop have been vandalized repeatedly since I went to Buffalo. Since I didn't get 'the message' from the petty vandalism, it leaves me on edge wondering what the next level of attack will be. Will it be more serious vandalism or will they start in on the personal terror that they've been dealing out to me for well, for a really long time?"

Thad stopped causing Kurt to stop since they were holding hands. In a shocking public display of affection, Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck and kissed him chastely, and then nuzzled into Kurt's neck. Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad's waist. Thad spoke softly, "Don't go there. Remember that other people's life choices are their own. These people blame you, but you are not the one hurting people. They are. You've never intentionally injured anyone. This isn't your fault."

Sebastian put his hand on Kurt's shoulder, and left for the breakfast area.

Thad unwrapped his arms from Kurt's neck and wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist and walked toward a bench. The two of them sat down, with Douglas still keeping an eye on them. Kurt leaned into Thad, who wiped the tears from Kurt's face. "Kurt, love, look at me." Thad gently tipped Kurt's chin up and kissed him again. "It's okay to be upset. Just stay with me okay."

Kurt nodded.

About five minutes later, Sebastian was back. He handed Douglas two sandwiches and a carton of juice and took off again. Douglas stood and ate them and drank the juice. He tossed the trash.

Kurt had regained his composure by the time the rest of the group came back to the lobby. Sebastian was carrying two more sandwiches and two containers of juice. He sat down next to Kurt on the bench and gave them the breakfast he had made them. They ate while listening to Mr. Browning's instructions.

They had been divided into the same groups as Niagara Falls.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The competition started at 6:00 and they were in their seats in the audience at 5:50. They had warmed up and were excited to see the other groups and to perform.

They opened with 'Skyscraper', followed by 'Breakaway', 'Pocketful of Sunshine', and ended with 'Unwritten'. Douglas stood on one side of the wings and Mr. Davis and Mr. Browning stood on the other. No one was allowed within 15 feet of the edge of the stage during their performance. When the curtain closed, Douglas went out on the stage and followed Kurt to the side where the teachers were waiting for them. They filed back out to their seats in the auditorium.

The watched the last four groups perform and enjoyed themselves. All of the groups were good. They waited on pins and needles during the judging intermission.

The announcer finally came out on stage. "Will the Warblers, the VBs, and the BRASS please come up on stage?"

The three groups assembled on stage. Again Douglas waited on the wings as close to Kurt as he could.

"In third place, the BRASS from Tallahassee, Florida." The crowd cheered. They collected their trophy.

"In second place, the VBs from Portland, Oregon." The crowd cheered again. Their leader collected their trophy.

"And repeating their win from last year, the Warblers from Westerville, Ohio!" The crowd cheered. This time, Thad pushed Kurt forward to retrieve their trophy. Kurt walked to the announcer, shook his hand, and thanked him. He carried the trophy back to the group. They stood and listened to the closing remarks before the curtain closed. Once it closed, they started hugging and hive-fiving each other and Douglas was right there on stage giving no one a chance to get to Kurt in the melee of people on stage.

They let the other teams file off first so they could leave without extra people around them. Mr. Browning congratulated them and reminded them to sleep because they were meeting early the next morning for the last of their sightseeing.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Jeff and Nick went with everyone else to watch a movie. Just Sebastian, Kurt, Thad, and, of course, Douglas went back to the suite. Kurt and Thad opted to take a shower right when they got back.

Douglas started talking to Sebastian. "How long have they been together?"

"About 14 months."

"This morning?"

"That was the first time I've ever seen them kiss with anyone around. That was Thad stepping way outside the box to keep Kurt grounded. I've talked to our school therapist so that I could be a good friend to Kurt. I'd never really tried all that hard to be a decent person until last fall when he reached out to me. We've been friends for 9 months and I consider the two of them my best friends in the world."

"And you'd never seen them kiss until today?"

"Not in public like that. They are very private people. Sure I've seen them hold hands and snuggle up during movies and stuff, but kiss, nope. I'm pretty sure that Kurt has PTSD from everything he's been through. I've seen him nearly catatonic from some of this stuff. This morning seemed to be Thad pulling out anything he could think of to keep Kurt from going to that dark place in his mind where the world would be better off without him. He struggles with the guilt of the fact that other people have been hurt because those assholes he used to go to school with hate him."

"That would be hard to live with."

"Especially for someone as kind and pure-hearted as Kurt. Thad and I see this other side of him when we're alone and we're not in Ohio. God, he's beautiful."

"And obviously taken."

"I don't mean like that. Well, of course he's good looking, I'm not blind. But I mean as a person. He helps everyone. He's been secretly tutoring this guy Sam from his previous school all year. He threw me a surprise party in my room when I got lacrosse captain. He got the entire group of Warblers to show up to my first scrimmage game this season and cheer for me like my own personal group of cheerleaders. The list is huge of things he does for other people, not to get recognition, but just because he's this really beautiful person. When he's away from the threats, he's this ray of sunshine."

"Sam... Sam's the tall blond kid that showed up in Buffalo, right?"

"Yeah."

"I honestly didn't pay attention to the songs you sang when we were in Buffalo, but I did tonight. Those songs, they were all really about him, weren't they?"

"Pretty much. The group members all suggested songs. He didn't choose them if that's what you mean. But they were suggested because of him. He struggled with dropping out and leaving me as the sole lead because of the threats. I don't have his range. I don't know if we could have won without him. But he came at great personal risk. His dad's home and business have been vandalized repeatedly since our last competition. He's afraid that coming here is going to tip his tormentors to resorting to the type of psychological torture he's endured for years - that they will start in on his dad and step-mom."

"That's a lot of weight on one person's shoulders."

"He's not alone though. You saw Thad. They are always there for each other."

They heard the bathroom door open.

"Your turn," Kurt said to Sebastian.

Sebastian grabbed his stuff and headed into the bathroom.

"You guys rocked tonight."

"Thanks," Thad said.

"So, I didn't realize until today that your group is student led. Those teachers that come with you aren't your directors. Mr. Davis told me that you guys do all of your own music and work without any teachers."

"Yep, Thad does the arrangements."

"That's amazing. Are you planning to study music?"

"That's the plan - for both of us. I'm hoping to study composition and Kurt wants to study vocal performance and maybe musical theater."

"And costume design," Kurt added.

"Right," That agreed.

"You design clothes?"

"Sure. Here, I'll show you." Kurt got out his phone and pulled up the photos from the Yule Ball and showed them to Douglas.

"Wow. You did all of that on your own?"

"Yep. I created the patterns and sewed every last piece myself."

"That's really impressive."

"Thanks."

Sebastian came back in the room a few minutes later. Kurt patted the bed and pulled the covers back for him.

"You can sleep with us if the pullout isn't comfortable."

"Okay."

"Alright guys, I'll go wait outside for Jeff and Nick to come back. That way you can get some sleep and I can keep them from banging on the door and waking you up."

"Thanks, Douglas," Kurt said.

"No problem."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, there was another message for Kurt at the front desk. This time it said, "Wrong choice."

Kurt dropped to his knees - a place Thad couldn't follow him.

Sebastian immediately knelt next to him. "Kurt. Kurt, look at me." Sebastian grabbed his hands.

Kurt didn't move other than to shove the message into Sebastian's hand. Sebastian just handed it to Thad without even looking at it. He moved to squatting and Douglas helped him get Kurt back on his feet and over to a bench. Thad sat next to Kurt and Sebastian sat on the other side. Kurt stood and climbed over the bench and sat cross-legged facing the wall. So, Thad and Sebastian were facing opposite of Kurt.

Thad scooted in closer, leaned over and wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck. Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad's waist and held on tight. Sebastian stood and Douglas saw what he was doing. He moved to stand next to Sebastian, shielding Kurt and Thad from the view of other people in the lobby. Sebastian nodded.

Nick and Jeff picked up the bags that Sebastian, Thad, Kurt, and Douglas left where they had been standing and put them in with the rest of the luggage on the carts that were being taken to storage for the day.

After all the luggage had been taken away, Mr. Browning discussed their itinerary and reminded them of the rules again. Sebastian sat back down next to Kurt.

"Are you going to come with us? Or do you want to stay here?"

Kurt said nothing, but let go of Thad, who then released Kurt. Kurt spun around on the bench and put his feet back on the floor and stood up. Thad stood, locked his brace in place and took Kurt's hand. Nick and Jeff walked over and stood with them.

Douglas let Sebastian walk on Kurt's other side and just stayed behind the three of them. Nick and Jeff walked in front. Kurt said nothing the entire day. He never let go of Thad's hand.


	23. Chapter 23

Kurt's silence continued throughout the evening and into Monday. He did what needed done. He stayed close to Thad as much as he could. He walked to the back of each of their classes and risked holding hands with Thad under the table while Thad took notes and Kurt just mostly stared off into space.

Last period finally arrived. Kurt and Thad made their way to the Warblers room. Thad sat at the table and Kurt sat in the closest seat on the couch. The council reminded everyone of the recognition dinner that would be in the cafeteria Tuesday. It would be the same as the year before. The council dismissed the group from rehearsing and allowed them to work on assignments for the rest of the period.

Thad got up, picked up Kurt's bag, handed it to him, took him by the hand, led him out of the room and straight to Miss Webber's office.

"I know you don't want to go in there, but I love you and I can't bear to see you this way. Maybe she can help. I don't know how, but I have to try."

Miss Webber let them in. They both sat down facing her.

"Thad said that you haven't spoken since yesterday morning, Kurt. He's worried about you."

Kurt nodded and just looked at his lap.

"Is it alright if I ask Thad what happened?"

Kurt nodded slightly.

"We went to New York to compete. The bullies are still stalking him and sending him threatening letters, well not letters. They didn't follow us to New York City, like they did to Buffalo. This time, there were phone messages left at the desk of the hotel."

"I see. And what did these messages say?"

"Well, the gist of it is that Kurt made the choice to allow his family to become targets now by not backing down and staying here instead of participating in the competition."

"Kurt, I know you have elected to not come see me this year, but I'm concerned that you are suffering from PTSD and I'd really like to help you. This type of dissociation is not uncommon for people with PTSD. It allows you to push the emotionally charged issues away long enough to still be able to breathe. And I'm okay with that. The last few times, you've come around in a lot shorter period of time though."

"I'm here. I'm not gone."

"That's good. It's okay for all of this to be overwhelming and to feel like you do. There is no wrong way to feel about something so terrible. But I need to make it as clear to you as I can. Other people's choices are not your fault."

"I know."

"I know you know. I'm just reminding you. Bullies and some other types of people count on the fact that genuinely decent people like you will take the blame for their actions and it feeds into their ability to control you. Going to New York is not the cause of whatever may happen. The people who choose to take action are the ones at fault."

"I know."

"Good. Just remember that for now. Try to stay here."

"I'm trying."

"I know. You're doing great. Thank you for talking to me. Have you reconsidered going to the police."

"A million times and every time, I see those officers and how they wanted to pin the vandalism on me as an act of retaliation that I brought upon myself. It's hard to remember that other people's actions are their own responsibility when the police want to blame me for getting a brick thrown through my window."

"I see. Your reticence to report anything makes more sense now."

"Can I leave now? I'd like to go to our room and lie down for a while before I do my homework."

"Sure. You're always welcome here, Kurt. I will listen if you want to talk."

"Thank you." Kurt stood. Thad let go of his hand long enough to lock his brace after he stood up and then retook Kurt's hand. They left and went to their room.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad went into the bathroom after they got to their room. He knew that Sebastian had lacrosse practice and wouldn't see the text for a while, but he sent it anyway.

He came back out and Kurt was lying in bed, naked from what Thad could tell, or perhaps in just his underwear. When he saw Thad come out, he got up and went in the bathroom. Kurt came back to find Thad in bed, brace off, in his underwear. Kurt got back into bed with Thad. Thad was on his side. Kurt lay down facing him. He leaned forward and kissed Thad.

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for."

"For worrying you."

"I forgive you. I love you. I just want you to be okay."

"I'm okay. With you." He pressed in and kissed Thad.

"You need to eat. You haven't eaten in nearly 48 hours. You drank the water I gave you, but you need food. Sebastian's bringing dinner when he gets done with practice. Will you eat with us?"

"Yes." He started to cry. He sobbed and Thad held him through it. "If it weren't for you, I would have given up last fall. I will eat for you so you won't be sad."

"Thank you."

They lay there holding each other, gently kissing once in a while, until Sebastian got back. He had ordered the food as soon as practice ended and just waited for it to arrive before he came up stairs. He knocked on their door to let them know he was back. He went in his own room and changed into pajamas, giving them the chance to be ready for him. Kurt and Thad both put pajamas on. Thad left his brace off and sat down on the floor, back against the bed frame.

Sebastian knocked on the bathroom door.

"Come on in, Sebastian," Thad called out.

He came in carrying a box of stuff. He put the box down on the floor and sat down next to it. He handed out the drinks first, which were some bottles of juice that he had obviously nabbed on his way through the cafeteria. Next he put the containers out on the tray Kurt had put out.

"I didn't know what you were in the mood for, so I ordered your favorite, which is also my favorite and I ordered chicken and broccoli in case you weren't up for anything spicy tonight."

Kurt took the container of chicken and broccoli. "Thank you."

"Anytime."

The other two took their food and they all started to eat.

"How was practice?"

"Too frequent."

Kurt laughed, which made Sebastian smile.

"We have an away game tomorrow, a home game Thursday and then our last regular season game is next Monday. Next Friday is our qualification game."

"What does that mean?" Thad asked.

"If we win, we'll be in the quarter finals with 7 other teams. Dalton gets out of school earlier than the other high schools, I guess. The state tournament is after we graduate." Sebastian knew that Kurt already knew all of this because he had seen Kurt add every one of his games to his phone calendar right after Sebastian had gotten his schedule, but he kept talking because Kurt was eating as long as he had someone to listen to it seemed. "I hear that you all get it easy when it comes to final exams."

"Easy?" Thad asked.

"Yeah. That all of you who are taking AP classes don't have final exams for those classes."

"Well, for most of them we have a final paper instead, so I'm not sure that's getting off 'easy'. We have to sit for the 3-hour AP exams, so it's not like we don't get tested. It's just like two weeks earlier than your tests will be."

His attempts at goading Kurt into defending the difficulty of their classes didn't work, so he changed the subject. "So, Florida, then Paris. Are you getting excited?"

"Definitely. I love it when we're in Florida. And I'm excited about going to Paris. I've been before, but I was a little kid. I remember, but this time will be different." He took Kurt's hand. "We'll be together and you'll be with us. It's going to be so much fun."

"We'll sightsee and redecorate."

"Mmm." Kurt said. "Do you have any pictures of the room that will be ours?"

Aha. Sebastian had found a way to get him to talk. "I don't think I do, but I will get some."

"We'll paint, maybe, probably. We'll need to get a new bed and new bedding. Send me links to some stores in Paris so I can look at what we can choose from."

"Okay. I'll find out what she's taking with her. I think you'll want to get two desks, right?"

"Definitely. Do you have a piano?"

"Yes."

"Excellent. Then I will quit worrying about how I can afford a piano. I'll have to get a job."

"That can wait until we get there," Sebastian said.

"You're right. No need to put the cart before the horse. I'm just super excited, but also really nervous."

"That's understandable. I was nervous when I got here last fall. You were there for me. I'll be there for you. It will be alright."

Kurt smiled.

"I know you didn't want to come here, but I'm really glad you did," Kurt said as he leaned over and put his other hand on Sebastian's knee.

"Me too." He covered Kurt's hand with his briefly. "The chicken and broccoli must be good."

"Oh, here taste it before I eat it all. I think you'll like it." Kurt held his container out so that Sebastian could try it.

"Oh, it is good. Not spicy at all, but definitely not bland. Savory. I like it."

"Do you want to try it?" He offered the container to Thad.

Thad took a bite. "It is good, but I love the spicy stuff."

"I know." Kurt smiled at him with the openness that had vanished the past couple of days returning.

Sebastian said, "I'm ready to resume a life where I have time to do something besides schoolwork. Sometimes I think this place is run by sadists. They give us so much work."

"It's more than you had in France?"

"By a long shot. Maybe my third year would have been this time consuming, I guess. I can't say for sure, but my second year was nothing like this. We wrote papers and did a lot of reading and took tests, but we write so many papers here. I guess it will make college seem easy. Maybe that's the point. We'll be so over-prepared for college, that it will be a breeze. I hope so. I need a break."

"Florida. Keep thinking Florida. It helps," Kurt offered.

"I'll work on it." He turned his hands palms up on his knees and put his hands in a meditative pose and chanted quietly. "Palm trees, sand, water, Cuban food, relaxing in the hammock, reading books I choose... Florida." Then he added, "Oommm." to the end.

Kurt cracked up laughing. "That's the spirit. Keep it up. You'll reach Nirvana at some point. Or fall asleep sitting up."

"Ooh, I have an idea. Is there an Ikea in Florida near your place, Thad?"

"I have no idea. The condo has had the same furniture in it for decades except the new sleeper sofa my parents got recently. The mid-century look to the place isn't a retro design scheme. It's the original furniture."

Sebastian laughed. He pulled out his phone. "There is one. When we're all there, we'll go. You guys can pick out what you like. Then when I get to France, I can order what you want and have it already at our place."

"Ooh. You're brave. You've offered to go shopping with me." Kurt laughed.

"I didn't know this was something to fear. Do you turn into an evil monster when shopping for furniture? I mean, we've been to Target, Goodwill, the ginormous grocery store, candy shops, bookstores, theme parks... Why should I fear the furniture store?"

"Bwaa haa haa... Wouldn't you like to know?" he asked raising his eyebrow.

"Umm, well, now I'm not sure if want to know or not."

Kurt raised up on his hands and knees and crawled toward Sebastian. He suddenly grabbed Sebastian's foot and started tickling him. Sebastian started to flail.

"No fair," he said through the laughter.

"Gotcha!" Kurt said as he let go of his foot.

Sebastian honestly was thrilled that he had been tricked. Kurt was mocking him and tickling him and being himself.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt ate breakfast and attended his classes. He took his own notes and participated.

During the Warblers rehearsal time, Trent said, "Everybody get in place to practice 'Break Away.'"

Kurt took his spot next to Sebastian, Jeff, and David in the front row.

"Da da da da.."

"Grew up in a small town and when the rain would fall down..." Kurt sang out.

Right after they had finished the song, Kurt received a pass from Miss Webber's office requesting his presence. He showed Thad the pass. He shrugged his shoulders and nodded. Kurt took his bag and left.

Once he was out of the room, David stood. "As we discussed over the weekend, the group, excluding Thad and Sebastian, decided to create an award to be given to the Warbler with the best attitude. Like sports teams have MVPs, we'd like to recognize the person who contributes and brings the team together and uplifts everyone. The council and group excluded Thad and Sebastian from the discussion because we knew that they would say that Kurt wouldn't want to be singled out for an award.

"He's never done anything so that he would get an award for doing it," Sebastian said.

Trent spoke, "We know that, which is exactly why he should get one."

Just then the headmaster walked in.

Trent continued. "This is supposed to be a surprise tonight, so no one should talk about it."

Everyone nodded.

Headmaster Carlson spoke next. 'Who would like to speak on Kurt's behalf tonight about why he's getting this award?"

Everyone in the room raised their hand.

"Well, there's not enough time for each of you to speak. Only three. So, I'd like each of you to take out a sheet of paper, write your name at the top and explain what Kurt's presence here at the school or in the Warblers has meant to you. I'll pick three people and let them know at the dinner tonight."

When he had all of their submissions, he took them and went back to his office to read them.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt knocked, then opened Miss Webber's door.

"Come in, Kurt."

He sat down.

"I just wanted to make sure that you're doing better. I got notes from several of your teachers yesterday indicating that you didn't participate and didn't look well."

"I better. I'm fine."

She looked at him with her head tilted and a "you're not fooling me" look on her face.

"Well, I'm as fine as I can be."

She nodded and smiled.

"You're talking. Did you eat?"

"I did. Sebastian ordered Chinese last night and we ate in our room."

"That's good."

"I had breakfast and lunch today too."

"Even better."

"I'll show you my notes from class today, if you want."

"No. I believe you. If you want to talk about anything, you can stay. Otherwise, you're free to go."

"I appreciate the fact that you do your job. That counts for a lot to me. I'm sorry I'm not good at opening up. You seem like you'd be good at what you do."

"Thank you."

"I'm glad you have Thad and Sebastian that you trust. I know that trusting authority figures isn't ever going to be easy for you. But not all of us are bad."

"I know. Maybe some day."

"Well, I'm glad you're better."

"Me too." Kurt stood and left.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt went back to the Warblers' practice room to find David watching the group dance while the recording of 'Pocketful of Sunshine' played. He put his bag down and took his place in the group and started dancing.

They went through 'Skyscraper' as well before the bell rang at the end of the period.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

It was Tuesday, which made it Kurt's afternoon to call his dad. This time he was surprised when Carole answered his dad's phone.

"Hey, honey."

"Carole?"

"Yes, honey, you're dad is driving right now. He can't answer his phone."

"Oh, okay. This is the time I usually call each week."

"He knows. He couldn't avoid driving right now though."

"Okay. How are things?"

"They're okay. Pretty much the same as usual. Finn and the rest of them are excited about Nationals in Chicago. I'm sure you are too."

"I am. I've never been to Chicago before and we've got some really cool field trips set up. We're going to the Shedd Aquarium and to the Museum of Science and Industry."

"That sounds cool. Finn said something about a baseball stadium or something. I think the girls are going shopping."

"Sounds about right."

"Congratulations on winning the competition in New York."

"Thanks. We had fun. We saw another Broadway show, which was really cool. And we went sightseeing and to a museum. Has there been more vandalism?"

"Not yesterday or today."

"I'm sorry."

"For what, honey?"

"It's happening because of me. I didn't want to worry Dad and I thought maybe it would just stop and I was hoping that he was right that it was just misguided middle schoolers."

"Well, I'm not sure what to say."

"Just don't let Dad hear me. It's because I wouldn't back down and drop out of the competitions. You know I dropped out of the musical. That was because of threats. But I was so sad after I gave up what I had always wanted that I pushed ahead and decided to compete despite the warnings not to. The vandalism started after I didn't heed the warnings I was given. This last weekend, the threat increased. I'm scared for you guys. I'm so sorry."

Carole spoke very quietly. "You and I will talk about this privately. Call me back tonight at 10:00. I'll go down to do laundry. Your dad will never come looking for me while I'm down there."

"Got it. I'll go for now. I have homework to do and a mandatory dinner at 5:30. I love you both. I'm sorry."

"Bye, honey."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad came in from physical therapy and found Kurt sitting at his desk doing calculus problems. He leaned over and wrapped his arms around Kurt and criss-crossed them on Kurt's chest. He kissed him on the neck.

"Mmm. Save me from the math problems," Kurt said.

"I'm afraid I need to join you in doing the math problems, but we have a dinner to be at in 15 minutes, so no time for saving or math problems. Time for fixing our hair, putting our blazers on, and being proper Dalton boys."

"After the kisses I've been waiting for all day."

"You win. After the kisses."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They took their places at the Warblers' table in the cafeteria. Headmaster Carlson congratulated them and ate dinner with them. Afterwards, they were lead to the auditorium like they were the previous year. They were lead into the backstage area from the hall, rather than into the auditorium itself. They filed on to the risers to get their photos taken, which happened rather quickly.

Then, to their surprise, they could hear the headmaster speaking. Mr. Browning distributed their head mics, which they put on quickly. The Warblers maintained their poise and stayed in place.

"All of you have been summoned tonight to hear the national a cappella champions sing for you. This is a surprise for them. They've done a marvelous job representing our school and I thought you all should hear them sing." The audience clapped and the headmaster left the stage.

The curtain opened and they had an audience. It looked like most of the school was there, plus the parents who lived in the area were sitting about four rows back.

The lights came up. Kurt stepped forward and turned to face the group. He put his hand over the face mic and spoke very quietly. We will not sing 'Unwritten'. Everyone nodded.

Everyone moved to their position for "Skyscraper". Since they hadn't warmed up, Thad hummed the pitch they needed. Sebastian counted them off behind his back and they started singing. They transitioned into "Breakaway" and after that "Pocketful of Sunshine".

Everyone in the audience clapped. They bowed in unison by watching Kurt and Sebastian. They stepped back and everyone moved back to their places on the risers since they had no idea what was going on.

The headmaster came back up on the stage. "Dalton Academy would like to recognize the leaders of this group. Would the three council members please step forward."

Thad, David, and Trent stepped down off the risers and stood about 10 feet in front of the group.

"This year, David Thompson has been in charge of choreography."

David stepped forward one step.

"Thad Harwood has been in charge of the musical arrangements."

Thad stepped forward.

"And Trent Nixon has been in charge of planning, scheduling, logistics and other aspects of the group."

Trent stepped forward.

"This year's lead singers are Sebastian Smythe and Kurt Hummel."

Sebastian and Kurt stepped to each end of the council members.

The audience clapped once everyone was in line. Once the clapping died down, the five of them went back to their place on the risers.

"As I mentioned earlier, the Warblers have just returned from New York City where they won the National High School a Cappella Competition for the second year in a row. In a few weeks, they are also headed to the National Show Choir competition in Chicago."

The audience applauded and even a few whoops and cheers could be heard.

"This year the Warbler Council has decided to create an award similar to the MVP of a sports team. It's called the SOARing spirit award. SOAR, for Standing Out Above the Rest. This award is being given to the member of the group that has shown the most positive attitude and contributed the most to the group through his constant willingness to help whenever needed, and volunteering when not asked. This year the award goes to Kurt Hummel."

Kurt stepped forward and walked toward where Headmaster Carlson was standing.

Liam came down off the risers and began to speak. "When I arrived last fall, I was scared. This place is huge and I didn't know anyone. Kurt took the time to talk to me and made me feel welcome. He's helped me be a stronger and better singer by working with me until I got the hang of singing with so many parts." He stepped back and went back to the group.

David approached the front of the stage next. "Kurt helped with every dance rehearsal working with the members that were struggling to learn their parts. He came up with the tiered dancing idea where we broke the group into sections and created more than one dance, allowing the strong dancers to show off their skills while allowing the others to still blend in and make us a strong unified group for competitions." David went back to his place.

"When I first arrived here from Paris last fall, I had a bad attitude and Kurt took me aside the first day. He gently put me in my place and made it abundantly clear that if I wanted to be a part of this school and this group that I would get my act together and behave properly. That may not sound like being positive and supportive, but it was. It was exactly what I needed to hear. He befriended me, an angry student from another country who had no idea how to fit in here. He was a light and a positive role model. He showed me what real friendship means and what it means to lead by example, rather than by might." Sebastian went back to his spot.

Headmaster Carlson walked back over to the mic. "Congratulations, Kurt. This plaque will go in the trophy case and each year, the recipient's name will go on it."

Kurt nodded. He wiped the tears from his eyes. "Thank you."

When the applause died down, Kurt turned and went back to his place on the risers.

"We'd like to welcome the family members who have come tonight to a small reception that's been set up in the auditorium foyer through the back doors. Students, you're dismissed and need to exit through doors into the school."

The curtains closed on the stage. They took their mics off and passed them to Mr. Browning. Kurt was hugged by each Warbler. Thad was last in line and took his hand and they filed off the stage together. They all walked up the aisle and out into the foyer.

It didn't take long for Burt to snatch Kurt up into a bear hug. "Kurt, I'm so proud of you. That was amazing. Your group is amazing. Congratulations on winning that national competition and that choir MVP thing."

"Thanks. This whole thing was a surprise for us. I had no idea. None of us knew we were performing tonight or at least I didn't know. Thanks for driving all the way over here. That's why you were driving when I called earlier."

Carole laughed. "It is." She hugged Kurt next. "Honey, you were so good."

"Thank you. Let's go get some of whatever the bakers made. I'm sure it's good."

They got in line to get dessert. Art and Sebastian got in line right behind them.

Sebastian quietly said, "I reminded him."

Kurt nodded.

They all sat at a table together. Thad, Kurt, and Sebastian talked about their trip to New York City, leaving out anything distressing. Art, Burt, and Carole enjoyed hearing them talk about their trip and asked questions. Headmaster Carlson made his way around the room stopping at all of the tables and congratulating everyone and shaking hands with the parents that had come.

About 7:30 most of the parents had started leaving and the students were heading back into the auditorium to go back into the school. There was a security officer standing inside the auditorium making sure that no non-students went back into the school building.

Kurt hugged Carole and his dad. "Thanks for coming." Kurt handed his phone to Sebastian. "Come over here."

They followed him and he grabbed two chairs and had Burt and Carole sit down. He and Thad stood behind them and Sebastian took a few shots. Kurt pushed the chairs back to the table. He grabbed Thad's hand and stood side by side. He motioned for Burt and Carole to stand next to them. Burt stood next to Kurt and wrapped his arm behind Kurt around his waist. Carole did the same with Thad. Sebastian took several shots.

Kurt hugged Carole again and when he was close, he whispered. "I'll call at 10:00." She nodded slightly.

He hugged Burt one last time. "I love you, Dad. Thanks for coming."

The two of them left. Kurt practically collapsed in Thad's arms once they were in the auditorium.

Sebastian knew that Thad couldn't manage Kurt leaning on him. He moved in and wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist to help hold him up. He walked Kurt over to the edge of an auditorium seat. Kurt leaned on the edge of the back of the seat. He tried to compose himself, but didn't succeed. He did manage to get it together enough to walk on his own back to their room.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt took his blazer off, but changed nothing else. He sat down at his desk and went right back to the calculus problems he had been working on before dinner.

Thad sat down next to him at his own desk and started on the same problem set. The two of them might fake it through not having read the material they were assigned, but there was no faking problems that didn't get done when the homework got collected the next day.

Kurt was slower at his work than he normally would have been as evidenced by the fact that they finished around the same time and Kurt had done several of the problems earlier that afternoon.

Kurt switched to French, knowing that whatever he read wasn't going to stick in his mind. So, he started researching the information he needed for his next paper, which was due on Friday. He could just stick index cards in the books marking the parts that he needed. He didn't need to remember anything that way.

At 9:50, he told Thad that he needed to call Carole and if he needed quiet, that he could go over to Sebastian's room for a while. Thad nodded and went through the bathroom and knocked to keep studying in Sebastian's room.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Hey, honey."

"Hi."

There was a long pause.

"I know you don't want to tell me whatever it is. I'm not going to ask you to. If you don't want to, it's okay."

"It's not okay, no matter what I do."

"Oh, honey. I'm sorry you feel that way."

"So, the threats never stopped. I just started ignoring them. I lost my role in the musical that I wanted so badly. I had never had an opportunity like that before and I won the role fair and square. I got the lead in a musical. I was so excited, but I let the bullies take that from me."

"We were all supposed to spend that weekend together, to finally meet Thad's family - and you cancelled it all."

"I did. I couldn't leave campus. I didn't know what else to do. Thad spent all day Saturday and Sunday with his mom and dad. I stayed here on campus."

"I see. What were you threatened with?"

"Them coming after you and Dad, well specifically it said the people I love, but they had already threatened Thad. So, I figured they meant you and Dad."

Carole let out a huge sigh. "That's why you changed your number and didn't give it to us. And why you barely talk to your Dad and you quit talking to me at all."

"Somehow, they know so much. Like how did they find out about the students-only performance? I got a text that Friday night after our last dress rehearsal. Whoever texted me obviously had gotten my phone number somehow."

"So you cut the flow of information to practically nothing. You told your Dad things after they happened. You didn't talk to me."

"Because you can read me. You can tell when things are messed up. Dad is Dad. He loves me, but I got away with keeping things from him for years. You're like a bloodhound in a good way, but bad when I really need to keep things secret."

Carole laughed. "Thanks, I think."

"You're a really great mom and it's been really hard for me because I missed my mother so much and you came along and you were great." Kurt was fighting tears. "You really cared and you accepted and loved me just like a real mom would. But then I had to leave. We got closer over the summer and the fall and at Christmas, and then I had to let you go. I couldn't figure out where the information was leaking to people from. I had to cut people out. I was scared."

"You figured if they thought we weren't close that they wouldn't bother with me."

"Exactly."

"And once Burt was in DC a lot, that made it worse."

"Worse for you, better for him. I knew no one would go so far as to bother him when he was there in DC, but you were in Lima, alone."

"Oh, Kurt. I appreciate you wanting to protect me, I really do. But you've been under too much pressure. This is just too much."

"Thad is amazing. And Sebastian's here for me too. But it's gotten to be too much a few times. They help me through it though."

"Well, I'm glad you have them."

"Me too. But you need to know that I'm 99% sure that the vandalism and petty thefts are because I didn't back down. They started right after I defied the demand to stay on campus. I hired a bodyguard and I went to Buffalo and to New York City."

"I understand. We can get ADT or some company to come out and put up security lights and put some security cameras up at the shop. Wait, a bodyguard?"

"Yes, I was afraid. So, I hired a bodyguard. I'm not concerned about the petty stuff. I'm concerned because I'm afraid they're going to target you personally. You're the one who's home while Dad is out of town and Finn is at Puck's or wherever. I need you to promise me that you'll park your car inside the garage every time you go home. And that you won't run errands when it's dark outside. Please, just promise me this until I leave. Once I'm gone, I think they'll leave you alone."

"Okay, Kurt. I promise. I'll park my car inside the garage all the time. And I won't go out alone in the dark for now."

"Thank you. I don't want you hurt. I'm so sorry." Kurt lost the battle of the tears. "I love you and I don't want you hurt."

"Kurt, honey. I love you too. It's not your fault that there are terrible people in the world."

"I know. But,"

"But nothing. If someone does something to me, which I hope no one does, but if it happens it's not your fault. It's whoever decides to commit a crime - it's their fault."

"People say that, but it doesn't really make me feel less guilty."

"I know, honey. That's because you're a good person who doesn't hurt people. You go out of your way to protect people. That's a good trait."

"I don't want you to live scared like me." Kurt was crying. "But I couldn't just not tell you this time."

"I understand. Nothing had ever happened here. Now that it has, you felt like you needed to tell me. I appreciate that."

"I just hope I'm wrong."

"Me too, honey. But I'll be careful. I promise. Getting ADT out here is probably a good idea anyway. Once Burt starts lobbying for gay rights and stuff, he won't be popular here. We should just accept that and put in some security anyway."

"Get some type with a thumbprint scan or something. I can see Finn forgetting the code or telling it to Puck or something just so he doesn't have to get up and open the door every time Puck comes over."

Carole laughed. "You're right. It took me forever to get him to remember to lock the door when he left."

"I'm sorry I froze you out. I'm pretty sure that Finn is about 80% of the leak that kept letting people find out where I was. He'd overhear you two talk and then say things without thinking. I think the other 20% is Blaine. He never thinks about the consequences of his words or actions. I don't think he's a mean-spirited person. Just like Finn. He's not doing it on purpose, but neither one of them thinks before they talk sometimes. Someone had to have said something about that Sunday morning performance. I got the threatening text when you two were mostly likely packing to spend the weekend with me and Thad and his parents at Sebastian and Art's. That whole plan was on its way to working until that evening."

"All of the New Directions were here that night."

"I know. I could hear them in the background. That's why I can't be 100% sure how the information was found out or leaked."

"Oh, honey. I thought all of those people were your friends. I never considered that any of them would leak information, not that I said anything to any of them or when they were around. I'm not sure how any of them found out. We didn't even tell Finn like you asked."

"Well, we aren't going to figure it out right now. And due to the surprise assembly and reception, I'm behind on homework. I need to go to bed so I can do my best at faking my way through tomorrow's classes. Hopefully, none of my teachers call on me."

"Good night, honey. Thank you for telling me. I won't say anything to anyone."

"Good night."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt texted Thad that he wasn't talking on the phone anymore. A few minutes later Thad was back. Kurt had heard Sebastian showering earlier. He started undressing and getting ready to shower. Thad walked in and turned right back around and locked the bathroom door to keep Sebastian from coming in. He came back in the room and got ready to shower as well.

He got Kurt to let him wash his hair and did what he could to make him feel better. Kurt did his moisturizing routine and his tattoo care and Thad did his. Kurt gave Thad a head start out of the bathroom and he quickly unlocked Sebastian's door and dashed inside their room, locking the door behind him.

Thad had turned the light off already and was removing the brace by the time Kurt got to the bed. He took the brace, put it on the desk and lay down next to Thad.

"I told her."

Thad ran his hand down Kurt's cheek and wiped the tears he knew were there. He pressed a gentle kiss to Kurt's cheek and then kissed him just as gently.

"Will you trade me places? I want to be the big spoon tonight and I know it's not that comfortable for you to sleep on your left side."

"Sure."

Kurt got up and Thad scooted over. Kurt climbed in behind him and pulled the sheet and blanket back up. Thad scooted back. Kurt wrapped his arm around him. Thad put his arm over the top of Kurt's and interlaced his hand over the top of Kurt's. Kurt kissed the back of Thad's neck and shoulders. Thad shivered. Kurt smiled and kept kissing him. "I love you so much. In a month, we'll be in Florida and we can leave all of this behind us. I mean I don't want to leave all of our friends, of course, but I'm looking forward to leaving behind the stress of being watched."

"I understood what you meant. I love you too. And I can't wait to be in Florida with you again." He pulled Kurt's hand to his mouth and kissed the inside of his wrist."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt ran his, Sebastian's, and Thad's letter jackets up to Trent like the text Thad had gotten had requested. He came back down and the three of them went to breakfast.

Kurt and Thad managed to not get called on the whole day, which was a huge relief. Thad and Kurt sat with the Warblers at lunch and told them how behind they were on work. The others agreed because none of them had planned for the time the lost to the assembly the evening before. They decided that they use the last period of the day when they were supposed to be rehearsing as a study hall to try to catch up.

As soon as the bell rang, Kurt and Thad headed straight to their room to continue their schoolwork. Poor Sebastian had to go to lacrosse practice. Kurt was glad to not be attending the spring football practices.

They were so determined to get caught up that they even sat in separate beds to do their reading, hoping that they could focus better. It didn't work. Kurt was back in bed with Thad in less than 15 minutes. Thad smiled, took his hand and kept reading.

They worked until the last possible minute before leaving for dinner. They picked Sebastian up on the way down and made it just before the doors closed.

Kurt plunked his tray down on the table. "I love this place, but I am tired of studying. I can't quit though. No horsing around. We have six AP exams next week. At least we don't have our regular classes and no additional assignments due next week."

"Well, be thankful for small miracles," Sebastian teased. "We have all of our classes next week, I guess not French though since we're part of the AP class. I guess I get a small break."

"No French paper due next week." Kurt said. "Did you find out where the qualifying game will be?"

"Some high school in Columbus."

"Boo."

"I know. You wanted to come."

"I still do. Less talking, more eating. I have a million things to read by tomorrow. We may have gotten off easy today without anyone figuring out that we didn't do yesterday's readings, but our luck will not hold."

"Yes, sir," Sebastian saluted him.

"Hush you. Eat."

Thad laughed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad did nothing but study the rest of the week, with the only exception being that Kurt went to Sebastian's lacrosse game while Thad was at physical therapy. As soon as the game was over, it was back to the grindstone.

Thad had bought the study guides and practice exams for their AP exams. By Sunday evening, they were exhausted. They showered and went straight to sleep. Monday morning they took their first exam. They got a one hour break for lunch. And then they took their second exam after lunch. The Warblers not in AP classes used their last period as a study hall since there were too many members missing to rehearse properly.

They went to Sebastian's final lacrosse match after school, which Dalton won. Sebastian met them afterwards.

"You know, at first several of the guys on the team thought you were my boyfriend. You cheer and yell so loud for me," Sebastian teased.

"They're just jealous that they don't have a super cool best friend like you do who comes to cheer them on."

"Maybe they just don't have best friends that used to be cheerleaders."

"Probably true too."

Sebastian wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulder. Kurt was holding Thad's hand with his free hand. They walked to the cafeteria to eat on the way back to their rooms.

"Mmm. Chicken pot pie. The cooks here are so good," Kurt said as he put his tray down. "You would not believe what passes for 'food' in a public school sometimes."

"I've seen pictures on the internet," Sebastian said. "It's scary."

Kurt laughed.

"Four more exams and we're headed into smooth waters," Thad said.

"Smooth waters sound nice," Kurt said.

They ate quietly and quickly. Kurt walked back toward the line and the other two followed him. He grabbed a banana and a bottle of juice. They copied him. And headed up to their rooms.

They spent the whole evening studying silently. Sebastian sat in the extra bed in their room and Kurt and Thad sat together in their bed. Eventually Sebastian's eyes gave out. He took his glasses off and said, "I'm done for the night. Taking my contacts out wasn't enough. My eyes are killing me. I'm going to sleep."

"Good night," Kurt said.

"It's 10:30. I think we should head to the shower. I don't think there's anything else that can be done about what we do or don't know at this point. If we fall asleep during the test that will be worse than not knowing the answer to a few questions."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Tuesday brought another pair of three-hour tests. Once they were finished, Kurt headed to the office to pick up their mail and Thad headed to physical therapy.

Right as Thad's session ended, he got a text from Kurt to come to Miss Webber's office. He went directly there, dreading whatever would push Kurt to the point of finally seeking out Miss Webber.

"Come in Thad," he heard as he knocked on the door. He went inside and sat down. There was an envelope in Kurt's hand that he hadn't opened.

"No return address. I just didn't want to open it alone."

"I'm glad you came, Kurt. We can talk or you can open it, whatever you want."

Kurt tore the end of the envelope off carefully, going much slower than necessary. He removed the sheets from the envelope and put the envelope on the desk. He unfolded the sheets and started to read.

"Oh, God." He quit reading and he pulled out his phone. He typed something in and nearly dropped his phone. "Oh, God." He was shaking.

Thad put his hand on Kurt's arm. "What's wrong?"

Kurt handed him his phone.

Thad started to read out loud. "Lima Teen Found Drowned in Local Lake." He continued to read the article. "David Karofsky, 18, a senior at McKinley High School in Lima was found Monday morning in Lake Cody." He stopped reading. "This is they guy who attacked you in the club and confronted you in the museum, the one who threatened to kill you last school year?"

Kurt nodded.

"What's that letter?"

"His suicide letter." Kurt went back to reading it. Not wanting to, but needing to know what it said.

No one said anything. Thad continued to read the newspaper article to himself.

David Karofsky, 18, a senior at McKinley High School in Lima was found Monday morning in Lake Cody.

Friends of Karofsky said the teen had contemplated a weekend camping trip, tentatively inviting a few friends, but indicated he would let them know Saturday morning whether to come out to the lake.

No one got a call, so the teens figured Karofsky had decided against the trip. The teen had told his parents about the trip and left for the lake Friday afternoon, saying he would return Sunday evening.

When the teen didn't return as expected, and calls and texts went unanswered, his parents, Eileen and Paul Karofsky called the teen's best friend Finn Hudson, 18, also a senior at McKinley high.

Hudson reported that he and the other teens never got a call from Karofsky and assumed the trip wasn't happening.

Mr. and Mrs. Karofsky drove to the lake and found their son's campsite, fully set up and used. The teen's truck and boat trailer were at the campsite. The boat had been launched.

It was dark by the time the Karofskys called authorities. They searched the lake and found the boat, with fishing poles set up, but no sign of the teen.

Monday morning divers were brought in and the teen's body was found. There are no signs of foul play and authorities are calling this an accidental drowning, but a full autopsy will be performed.

The authorities want to remind everyone not to venture out on lakes alone.

Karofsky had been a member of the hockey team, the football team, and the New Directions Glee Club.

Services for non-family members will be held this Friday evening at the Lima Funeral Home. A memorial service for close friends and family will be held Saturday morning at the Grace Family Worship Center in Lima, where Karofsky was a dedicated member of the choir and the youth group. Burial will follow in Lima Memorial Gardens.

Anyone wishing to make a donation to a charity on behalf of the teen, can contribute to the Life Giving Water Youth Fund, which supports providing clean water in Haiti, where the teen had planned to go this summer with his youth group.

Thad handed the phone to Miss Webber after he finished reading the article. She read through it and handed it back. They both sat waiting for Kurt to finish reading. The letter was longer than the article. Kurt also kept putting it down and picking it back up. He eventually finished it.

"It was all him."

Kurt paused and put the letter back in the envelope, not letting Thad or Miss Webber see it.

"No one else was ever involved in the threats. He just made it seem like there were others to scare me more."

"The vandalism?" Thad asked.

"His idea. He was involved, but got away when the other four got caught."

"Oh."

"He was there in Buffalo with the others. He just didn't wait around to greet us. He went out to the car or the bathroom or whatever."

"So the newspaper article says it was an accidental drowning."

"Then he did a good job of making it look like an accident because what he wrote makes it 100% clear that it was intentional. He wanted to go out in a way that didn't leave a negative impression of him or his family."

"So, he threatens to kill you, attacks you, injures you, stalks you, sets your SUV on fire, destroys your clothes, stalks you more, and psychologically tortures you for months, and goes out smelling like a rose?"

"That's how it looks."

"The article lists your stepbrother as his best friend," Miss Webber stated.

"Yep. I told you about that when I asked you to back my request to have my parents' request for days off from school denied. He befriended Finn last spring when Finn was working hard to get me back to McKinley. He had already lost Rachel then. He was probably the one nudging Finn about why he drove a beat up truck, trying to get me back at McKinley so he could start torturing me again. When that failed, he stuck tight to Finn for insider information. He was there for Finn last fall when he was down about not getting to play football. He stuck with him through Blaine taking over Finn's role in Glee. He weasled his way into my family. My dad has been extolling his complete transformation. He went with my family on vacation for spring break, pushing me out of my own family vacation."

Kurt stopped talking for a few minutes.

"The school installed a massive door, hired security all year because of one jackass. I let him control nearly my entire school year because he convinced me that a whole group of people were watching my every move. I've cost the school a small fortune all because of one person. I should have listened to you, Miss Webber. I should have named him after the attack in the club. If I had prosecuted him then, I could have prevented all of the rest of this."

"Kurt, please listen to me. Did you make the best decision you could with the information you had at the time?"

"Yes."

"Did knowingly cause trouble for the school or anyone else?"

"No!"

"I know, Kurt. I just want you to realize it yourself. To my knowledge, you have done nothing but attempt to keep the other students at the school safe by having your friends move off the ground floor when the vandals were released. You had no way of knowing that they were not actually a threat to you, did you?"

"No."

"The fact that you are here on scholarship and used what little money you have to provide your own personal security for the school trips is enough for anyone to see that you were in danger and that you would do whatever it took to keep yourself and the Warblers safe."

"I guess. I knew he was part of it all along. I just thought he was PART of it, not ALL of it."

"I know that it makes a big difference now, but looking back I don't see how you could have believed anything different. You were attacked five times. Once in Lima, once in the club, once here on campus, once when your SUV was set on fire, and once in the museum. Of those times, to your knowledge, Karofsky was only involved personally twice. Two of those times involved eight other individuals and the other, the fire, had no suspects."

"You're right, of course, but looking back it's frustrating knowing everything I gave up because of one person."

"That's why the adage 'hindsight is 20/20' exists. You're not the first or last person who will make decisions on incomplete information, but who is forced to make a decision without the rest of the information."

"Do you have any idea what it's going to be like forever? My stepbrother just lost his best friend in an accident. That is hard. I cannot imagine losing Thad or Sebastian. My stepbrother is hurting and the death of his best friend is my freedom. I've been released from the person responsible for the PTSD you think I have. My freedom has cost my stepbrother his best friend. My father thinks that Karofsky was completely reformed. He took him under his wing like a prodigal lost boy that had reformed like Puck and Finn. He saw himself in Karofsky. How do I tell him that he's been duped but I couldn't say anything about it for the last nearly 9 months because I was afraid for my life and Thad's?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "I would be glad to meet with all three of you. I can vouch for your side of the issue. I have my notes from the few times you did speak with me. I cannot turn those over to authorities or have them subpoenaed, but you can allow me to share them with your father, if you'd like."

"I don't know what I'd like. I don't know. I just don't know."

"And that's okay, Kurt. You don't have to have all of the answers today or tomorrow or even next week. This has been a huge part of your life for years."

Thad was struggling. His mind jumped around. If Kurt, this… and if Kurt, that... None of it good.

"Can you keep the letter here locked up somehow? I know that I will reread it over and over again if it's with me. I don't know what I want to do with it, but I have more AP exams to take and I can't have it with me."

"Sure. I will lock it in my file cabinet until you tell me what you want me to do with it." She held out her hand and took it from Kurt, placed it in another envelope and sealed it before unlocking her file cabinet, putting it in, and locking it back up.

Kurt stood. "Thank you. I know you're off now. May I come back after lunch tomorrow?"

"Yes, Kurt. Let me check. I'm free from 1:00 until 2:00 tomorrow."

Kurt nodded, silently agreeing to the time she offered.

Thad had already stood up and locked his brace. He didn't know what to do. Kurt reached out for him and he gladly took his hand. They left and went to the cafeteria. He took Thad's hand and practically marched out the door to the courtyard. He kept walking and walking.

Kurt got out to the garden where he and Thad had eaten pizza with Sam that night and other times before they stopped going outside. He walked around the whole area. They walked out of the garden farther away from the school. Kurt stopped to look at the different flowers that the gardeners had planted. After a brief trip through that section, Kurt turned back toward the school and walked straight back to the courtyard and into the cafeteria.

He pulled out his phone and texted Sebastian to come and meet them. Once he arrived, they all got in line. Kurt said nothing about what had happened. It was as if the last hour never happened.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt got up from the table, put his tray and its contents away properly and said, "I have to do something. I'll be upstairs in a little while." He squeezed Thad's hand and let it go.

Thad reluctantly left him behind and went with Sebastian upstairs.

Kurt went directly to the headmaster's office. He didn't know if he'd still be there, but he went to check. He caught him when he had just started to lock his office door.

"Kurt, this is a surprise." He unlocked the door and ushered Kurt in. "Please have a seat."

Kurt sat down. "I've come to tell you that it's over. The threats to my life are over. The school doesn't need to keep all of the extra security anymore."

"What makes you think it's over?"

"The guy who threatened to kill me and who attacked me is dead."

"How?"

"Official answer or the truth?"

"Both?"

"Accidental drowning. Suicide."

"How do you know?"

"The article in the Lima newspaper and the fact that he sent me his suicide note."

"The note should be turned over to the authorities."

"Won't matter. There is absolutely nothing in what he wrote that is identifiable."

"I see"

"I found out from the letter that it's been him and only him this whole school year - the threats I mean. The dumpster toss in Lima was a crime of opportunity. We were there, and the perpetrators were there. They took advantage, but the letter said that those four only ever harassed me as required by their ringleader."

"I see."

"The four of them hate him now. He was also here the night of the vandalism. He participated, but escaped the security guards. The whole thing was his idea. Those four aren't speaking to him and hate him as well."

"So, he was the ring leader and his crew had turned on him and he continued the harassment on his own, but made it seem like there were others still involved?"

Kurt nodded

"There are only a couple of weeks left in the semester. I'm not going to change the security. I will notify them that you are allowed out on the grounds now without an escort. They've been employed this whole year and their contracts end in..." He consulted his calendar, "two weeks and three days. I'm not going to fire them. The school will honor their contract agreement because it is the proper thing to do."

"I agree, but I didn't know about the contract when I came in."

"I understand."

"I cannot tell you how much I appreciate how seriously Dalton has taken my safety. This place has been my refuge for a long time now. It's hard to believe that it will all end in a little over two weeks."

"You have left your mark here, Kurt. Despite how you may be feeling about causing the school trouble and costing extra money for the security, your presence here will be missed." He opened his file cabinet and took out a folder. "I was going to wait to give this to you and I still will wait, but I want you to know about it. The afternoon of the award ceremony, I went to the Warblers and asked for people to speak about how you had been a positive influence - every hand went up. I asked each of them to write what they had to say on a sheet of paper and pass it to me. I looked through them and some of them were quite personal. I chose three people whose stories were personal, yet not private. Well, Sebastian's was more personal than the others, but he insisted that he be given on of the three spots when he came to see me after rehearsal. He said that you had completely turned his life around and that you couldn't possibly have influenced anyone more than you had influenced him. So, I gave him the opportunity to speak."

"I don't know what to say."

"What led you here was terrible. No one denies that. But you being here has been a benefit to this school and to yourself I believe."

"That's true."

"I believe there is one particular individual besides Sebastian whose life would be completely different if you hadn't come. Someone I rarely see you without."

Kurt nodded. "Can I tell you something completely 100% off the record, like absolutely off the record?"

"Is it something illegal?"

"No, but it's probably against the intent of a school rule, but the rule is very vague."

"Well, if there's no specific rule prohibiting whatever it is, then there is nothing I can do to you for doing whatever it is."

Kurt took his jacket off and rolled his sleeve up. "I covered over what was carved into my skin at the attack in the club."

Headmaster Carlson took a closer look. "The person who did that did amazing work. It's like the scars aren't even there."

"I know. I can't make the past go away. I did the best with what I had to work with. I came here. I will never regret that. And while there are things I could have done differently, I didn't have the information I needed at the time to know that there were other options. One suggestion I would make is to teach safe internet usage to all incoming students as part of their required orientation."

"That's a good idea. This is a boarding school and in this era, our students rely heavily on internet communication with their families."

"The attack at the club would not have happened if someone in the school hadn't posted where we were going in advance. The person did not intentionally put me in danger, and I don't even have a Facebook account that is active, but my name was mentioned and brought the attacker to me that night."

"I see."

"Also, I think you need to talk with the local newspaper and make them understand that articles about students in this school need to be approved by the school in advance. They need to understand that some of the students enrolled here are here because of safety issues. And broadcasting a student's whereabouts in a newspaper does not keep him safe."

"Another good point."

"And I have absolutely no idea how my next idea could be implemented, but housing the disabled students alone on the first floor is very isolating. It would be a lot better for any student who can't use the stairs to have access to an elevator in the dorm wing so that they can live with their fellow students. Thad and I had lived alone down there for 5 weeks before Sebastian took it upon himself to get some of our friends to move down there with us. If it had just been a single wheelchair bound student, he would be profoundly lonely in that wing by himself."

"I have no idea how to make that happen either, but I'll present your suggest to the board."

"Thank you."

The headmaster pulled out a student handbook and flipped through it to the dress code section. "I see. The rule says 'no visible tattoos.'"

"But it doesn't say what the student is wearing at the time. Does that mean that they can't show when wearing the full uniform? Or does it mean 'no visible tattoos' when wearing a basketball uniform or a swimsuit?"

"You're right that it's not specific enough. It's also old fashioned and somewhat discriminatory. I think perhaps it could say 'no visible tattoos that contain swear words or derogatory expressions or nudes.' or something along those lines. And it should give the student options for appropriately covering them if need be. No one can get a tattoo under the age of 18 without parental approval. So, we'd just be dealing with a small group of people that have turned 18 their last year here. Given the vagueness of the rule, I would overturn any suggestion to expel you for your forearm tattoo. As it is written, I will assume that it means 'while the student is wearing his uniform'. Yours doesn't show in your uniform, so it's a non-issue to me."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. And to me, what you had done was like cosmetic surgery in a way. It prevents you from dealing with unwanted attention drawn to scars."

"That's my hope. Plus when I look down, I see something I love not the hate that was carved into my arm."

"I thought maybe you were going to tell me about what happened in Buffalo."

Kurt looked at him curiously.

"I'm not going to expel you or Thad. Or tell anyone. The only other person that knows signed a confidentiality agreement when she started working here."

"Well, given everything you just said, I'm imagining that you already know."

"That's not the same as being told," he said as he smiled.

"Thad and I got married over spring break."

"Congratulations!" he said excitedly.

"Thanks," Kurt laughed at the headmaster's enthusiasm.

"My husband and I went to Connecticut right after it was legalized there, nearly three and a half years ago."

"I had no idea. That's really amazing."

"We drove there the day after they licenses were available. We'd been together since high school. Much like you and Thad, we met at boarding school. So, I'll give my age away, but we've been together 25 years, and married for nearly three and a half."

Kurt loosened his tie and unbuttoned his top button and pulled the chain up and let it lay on his tie. "We couldn't wear them, so I got these cool chains to wear them on."

"The rings themselves aren't against the dress code. You know that though because you are wearing a ring on your thumb."

"Yeah, but information kept being leaked out somehow and I didn't want to upset my stalker even more. Plus, neither one of us has told our parents yet."

"I see."

"My parents know nothing about my personal life because my stalker became my stepbrother's best friend. I had to keep everything to myself to keep him from finding anything out and I still wasn't completely successful. My parents also don't know that I'm moving to France. They think I'm going to school in Alaska. I never said I was, but I mentioned that I was applying to places as far away as Alaska."

"You've been in a hard place all year and now that hasn't changed. Your stepbrother's loss is your gain."

"Exactly. And on top of it, my dad believed in my bully's 'reformation'. He took my stalker on our family spring break trip that I had to lie about to get out of. I told my parents that I couldn't get permission to skip school for two days to go with them."

The headmaster looked confused.

"Oh, our spring break wasn't the same week as theirs. So, my parents wanted me to skip school on Thursday and Friday and fly to Florida to spend four days with them."

He nodded. "I see. So, he ingratiated himself into your family, taking your rightful spot, causing you to ice out your family for their own protection and yours."

"Exactly."

"Well, to ease your mind about what took place over spring break, there are no rules prohibiting it because it is not legal in Ohio or legally recognized in Ohio. So, the school has never written rules prohibiting it."

"Well, that's good news." Kurt put the necklace back inside his shirt and fixed his tie.

"You can tell Thad what I told you about me."

"Thank you. I better get going. I've kept you long past when you had planned to leave. And I'm sure that Thad and Sebastian are wondering what is keeping me."

"It will take the two of them some time to start to worry about you less."

"That's a good point. I'll keep that in mind. Have a good evening."

"Study hard, like always."

"I will."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt knocked on Sebastian's door first to let him know he had come back upstairs. He went in his own room afterwards. He found Thad sitting in their bed reading. This big smile on Kurt's face was a pleasant surprise for Thad. He smiled back. Kurt saw that Thad's brace was still on and he was still in his clothes. He turned his iPod on and offered his hand to Thad.

"May I have this dance?"

Thad smiled and responded, "You may." He got up and wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck. They slow danced around the room for one song.

"I have a better idea."

"Better than dancing with you?"

"Well, a revised idea."

"And that is?"

"We shower, we turn off the room lights, turn on the twinkle lights and we dance in our underwear."

"Ah, I see the improvements to your original idea. I accept the proposed changes."

Kurt laughed and started undressing, but left his pants on long enough to lock Sebastian out and came right back and turned off the lights. He plugged the twinkle lights in and finished getting undressed. He and Thad enjoyed their shower. Thad was surprised by Kurt's light and happy mood, but had no intentions of asking what brought it on and chose not to question it.

Thad surprised Kurt by standing up in the shower and washing Kurt's hair and all of the rest of him lovingly, which Kurt returned the favor. Afterwards, Thad sat back down and Kurt straddled the seat and kept their kissing going, but eventually asked, "What was that?"

"That was months of hard work in physical therapy. I just wanted you to see. I can stand, not for a long time, but I can do it."

Kurt wrapped his arms around him. That's fantastic. I know you work hard. You know that it's okay if the brace stays right. I love you 100%, brace or no brace."

"I know. I want it off, if that's possible. Maybe I'll just be able to do small things like shower or walk around inside our home. But we'll see."

Kurt went back to kissing him. "You're amazing. I love you so much!"

"I love you too."

They spent a while longer in the shower.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They resumed their dancing. After a couple of songs, Kurt started talking.

"Headmaster Carlson is married."

"I know. He wears a wedding ring."

"He's married to his husband."

"What?"

"He knows about us. He saw the envelope with our wedding certificate and put two and two together, along with one other staff member who he did not name, but said has signed a confidentiality agreement and isn't legally allowed to say anything to anyone."

"So, he knows."

"He congratulated me, well us. He told me that I could tell you. He and his husband have been together 25 years and met in boarding school."

"That's crazy. I bet it was hard for them back then. I bet the school didn't have a no-bullying policy and I bet they had to keep it completely hidden."

"I'm sure they did."

"But that does explain why he worked so hard to get me a place here."

"It does."

"I showed him my tattoo. He says that the rule is too vague to enforce and he's fine with it."

"Awesome. No more worrying about either thing."

"There's something else I want you to stop thinking about."

"What's that?"

"I don't regret one minute I've spent here. Coming here was the best thing for me. I love you more than I could ever explain. I'm glad for every minute I've ever gotten to spend with you."

Thad just practically melted into Kurt.

Kurt danced them over to the edge of the bed and Thad sat down. Kurt took his brace off. He went back in the bathroom, grabbed his lotion and unlocked Sebastian's side, then locking their side after he was back in the room.

"Lie on your stomach, please. I want to give you a massage."

Thad didn't need to be asked twice. He started to lie down.

"You're overdressed."

Thad laughed and fixed the problem. Kurt grabbed pajamas and laid them on the desk, along with their underwear. He climbed into bed and straddled Thad and started with his feet and legs. He turned and worked on his shoulders, arms and back next.

"I think you missed a spot."

"Did I?" Kurt laughed. "I'll have to correct that." And he did. "Turn over."

Instead of massaging, Kurt changed to kissing Thad's neck and chest. As he got lower, he asked with his eyes and Thad nodded.

Once Thad recovered, he opted to give Kurt the exact same massage.


	24. Chapter 24

The next morning, Kurt texted Carole before he went down to breakfast asking her if she could be at the school at 1:00. He checked for a response after he, Thad, Sebastian, Nick and Jeff had sat down at the table. She was coming.

"Whose brain hurts?" Nick asked.

"Mine, for certain," Thad answered.

"Me too," Kurt said.

"Me three," Jeff said.

"I have two exams today," Nick said.

"I just have one," Kurt said. "I took the French exam last year."

"Ugh. I won't bother asking what you got because we all know you got a 5," Jeff said.

"It helps if your mother speaks French to you as your first language," Kurt said.

"Ah, so now we know your secret," Nick said. "Too bad it's of absolutely no use to the three of us this afternoon."

After they finished eating, Kurt stood up and pick up his tray. "I'm going to see if I can stuff any more calculus in my brain before test time."

Thad stood up and followed him to the tray drop off area. They left hand in hand.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt left the cafeteria at 12:30 to give himself enough time to change into regular clothes. For the first time, he dared to wear a short-sleeved shirt where people could see him. He kept his arm to his side until he was closer to the administrative offices. Then, he relaxed remembering what the headmaster had told him the day before.

Kurt was sitting on front steps when Carole arrived. He kept his arm to his side while assuring the security that Carole was his mom and should be let in with him. They let her through after looking at her driver's license.

"Sorry, I didn't have time to get your name on the visitor's list."

"No problem, honey. Why did you call me here?"

"Follow me and we'll talk." Kurt led her to Miss Webber's office and knocked.

She opened the door and let them in. Kurt sat down and Carole followed his lead. Miss Webber closed the door and sat down in her desk chair. She waited for Kurt to begin to talk.

"I'm going to want to show Carole the letter."

"Alright." She turned and unlocked her file cabinet, withdrew the letter, and placed it on her desk.

"So, I need to tell you something." He paused, struggling with the words to use. "You know we talked about the threats?"

"Yes."

"Well, what I've never told you is that it was David Karofsky that attacked me in the club. He was also the one that set my Navigator on fire. He also cornered me in a museum in Columbus and threatened me as well as Thad. It was that threat early in the semester that led me to my self-imposed imprisonment in the school. He was part of the group of football team members vandalized the school that night – it was his idea, but he got away. It was him who instigated Azimio and the other football players to bully me at school all those years."

"But David had changed..."

"No. He used Finn, Blaine, and ultimately you and Dad to continue his bullying. I know this is really hard for you to accept. That's why I asked you here. Miss Webber has known that the two personal attacks were by Karofsky since they happened. I did not go to the police either time, despite the fact that she encouraged me to. In retrospect, maybe I should have, but the evidence would have been difficult to get and proving it would have been really hard. And if I had lost, the situation could have escalated even more."

"You have a tattoo?" Miss Webber noticed.

"I put scar medicine on the area as soon as the stitches came out and it healed over, but even when it faded, the words could still be read. I read up on getting scars covered over with tattoos and I researched and went to someone who specialized in covering scars." He held out his arm. "Don't worry, Miss Webber, Headmaster Carlson already knows about it."

"Alright. The person who did it did a good job," she said.

"I agree," Carole added. "I'll just have to get used to seeing you with a tattoo is all. So it was David that attacked you that night. He instigated the vandalism here at the school, but got away. He set your Navigator on fire, also destroying your clothes. And he's the one who threatened you and Thad about you leaving campus."

"Yes."

"It just doesn't seem possible. He's been at the house so much. He is, he was, Finn's best friend."

"I know. I saw the newspaper article."

"How do you know he's the one that was the ringleader and that he set your SUV on fire?"

"He sent me his suicide letter."

"Suicide? It was an accident."

"It wasn't. That's what's in the envelope that Miss Webber pulled out of her file cabinet. I had to study last night and I couldn't bear to have it in my possession because I knew I would be drawn to reading it over and over."

"Can I read it?" Carole asked.

"Yes," Kurt answered.

Miss Webber handed her the envelope.

"It's sealed."

"That's so I would know that no one had tampered with it while it wasn't in my possession. Go ahead and open that envelope. There's another one inside it."

Carole opened it, pulled out the original envelope, took the letter out, and began to read. It only took a few seconds before she started to cry. Kurt and Miss Webber sat quietly while she read through the whole thing.

"It's just so hard to fit these two sides together. The stalker, assaulter, arsonist, and vandal with the kind, sweet, and gentle young man who has spent so much time in my house."

"I understand that."

"I wish you had told me sooner."

"I wish I hadn't had my life threatened not to. And honestly, I didn't realize how close Karofsky had gotten to the three of you until Dad told me that Finn had asked him to go to Florida with you guys for spring break."

"That's why you said you couldn't come."

"It is."

"Your dad and I let David close all while you were shutting us out to keep us and yourself and Thad safe from him. That's how the small tools have been vanishing. Burt just could not figure out how so many fairly insignificant tools kept disappearing. Dave was stopping by the shop to pick Finn up from work and he'd hang around in the work area waiting for Finn to finish up. He must have been pocketing the tools when no one was looking."

"I guess the one upside is that the two of you made such an impression on him that he couldn't bring himself to hurt either of the two of you the past few days."

"He killed himself."

"He did and that's sad because he'll never grow up to find love and it seems like he never had that from his family, at least not unconditional love. And it's sad for Finn because from Finn's perspective, his best friend died in an accident at the lake and he's going to be heartbroken about that. People don't just get over something like that in a few days."

"No, they don't."

"I don't envy your position at all. Finn's heartbroken and I'm elated. I can go back to being able to living a normal life, while he struggles with losing a friend."

Carole handed the letter back to Miss Webber, who put it back in its original envelope. She put the original envelope into a new envelope, sealed it, and put it back in her file cabinet.

"I can't tell Finn this."

"I know. My dilemma is whether to tell Dad."

"The only reason I telling you now is because a week ago I told you that you were in danger. And now I needed to tell you the danger was over in a way that you would believe."

"And you're not going to do anything with that letter?"

"Like send a copy to his parents or the newspaper? No. He'll get the 'local reformed teen lost too young' title while I will remain the fag that everyone dislikes. It really doesn't matter that he was the ringleader. There were enough followers who could have created a mutiny. Puck and Finn changed. They paid the price, taking a hit in their popularity, but nothing impossible to recover from. Azimio and the others could have stood up to Dave and told him 'no more' and stopped it. But they didn't."

"I don't even know what to think. This is all so unnerving. Having someone do this to you changes how you view things. It makes me way more distrustful."

"I also didn't want you to jump on the 'poor David' bandwagon and do something in his honor."

"I'm not friends with his mother. That's for sure. I'm not sure what she thought of him befriending Finn, but maybe he lied to her and told her that we pushed you out and sent you to reform school or something. I don't know."

"Do you have anything you want to ask Miss Webber? I know that she has other afternoon appointments."

"Not that I can think of. But I do want to thank you for being kind to Kurt. He's not had many adults treat him respectfully."

"I'm aware of that, unfortunately. I've always wished I could do more, but I've done what he would let me do."

"What she's saying politely is that she has honestly tried to help me and I've rejected her offer numerous times throughout the school year."

"I see."

"Thank you for seeing us, Miss Webber."

"Come back anytime, Kurt. It was nice to meet you, Mrs. Hummel."

"You too."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Kurt, come in. What can I do for you today?" Headmaster Carlson asked.

"Well, I wanted to get permission for my mom to tour the building and the grounds with me."

"You're out of uniform."

"Yes, my exams are done for the day and I'm waiting for Thad to finish with his so that all three or four of us, if Sebastian has time, can go out together."

"I assume that you've told Mrs. Hummel?"

"I told her about Karofsky's role in everything. And obviously she saw the tattoo."

"Very well." He took note that Kurt had not told her about Thad. He took out a pad and wrote a note and signed it, giving Carole permission to be in the building and on the grounds. "I'll let the issue of your uniform slide since classes let out in an hour and as you said, yours ended at noon today. I would prefer it if you would run upstairs and put a long-sleeved shirt or jacket on. I'm not interested in opening the can of worms that your tattooed arm represents for me right now."

"Yes, Sir." He took the note from the headmaster. "I'll go do that right now. Does 'anywhere' include the dorm building?"

"Yes, Kurt."

"Thank you, Sir."

Kurt got up and Carole followed him out. Carole was still smiling from hearing Kurt call her "mom".

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Fortunately for Kurt, his neat streak came in handy because since both beds in their room were made and everything was neat and tidy.

Kurt opened the door and let Carole inside.

"These are nice rooms, not as big as the one you had downstairs."

"I'll give you the 5-cent tour." He spun in a circle with his right hand out to his side - this is our room. He stepped forward a few feet and this is our bathroom, which we share with Sebastian."

"Well, do you mind if I have a seat?"

"Sure, you can sit at my desk or on that bed." Kurt pulled out his letter jacket and showed it to Carole. "I got my patches from the national title we won and from getting the SOAR award."

"You know your dad and I are so proud of you. It was hard on your dad to let you come here, but he knows that you would have never gotten the education in Lima that you've gotten here. Plus the opportunities here are much better. I love Finn, I really do, but you are a much better singer than he is and you would have never gotten even a single minute to shine in the New Directions. The three kids that got up and said why you should deserve that award, you've always done those things, haven't you?"

Kurt nodded.

"And it got you a lot of nothing. Not that you did any of it for recognition because I know that you didn't, but here people see your kindness. In Lima, people tried to beat it out you it seems."

He opened his closet, put his jacket back in, and grabbed his lightest weight cardigan and put it on. "That takes care of the arm. Do you want to go for a walk or wait for Thad to get back?"

"What is it that you want to do with Thad?"

"I want us to go out."

"Alright. Tell me about you and Thad. We've not really spoken in a few months, at least now I know why."

"I couldn't say anything. I wanted to. It killed me letting you go. I was losing what I had wanted for so long and had finally gotten."

"You called me your mom downstairs."

"Is that okay? Should I not have?"

"No, honey. It actually made me really happy."

"I never called my own mother that. She was French, as you know. She taught me to call her ' _maman_ '. Whenever I talk about her to other people, I've always called her my 'mother', maybe because of Dad. I'm not sure, but he would say things like, 'Go ask your mother' when I asked him questions he didn't know the answer to. He called her 'Lizzie' and 'your mother'. So, I guess it just stuck. But Finn calls you 'mom' and he stopped calling my dad 'Burt' a long time ago because he called him 'Dad' in the letter he sent me last fall."

"It's fine with me if you call me mom. I know I can never replace your mother. But I do love you. And I want you to know that I'm not angry with you about not talking to me for the last few months. I'm sad that you were put in such an awful position."

Kurt nodded.

"What have you and Thad been up to?"

"Well, he did a professional recording of some of his songs for his college admissions applications. That's why I got him for Christmas - an hour of studio time. The studio provided musicians. It turned out really great." Kurt had a huge proud smile on his face.

"You're absolutely in love with him." she said halfway between a statement and a question. "I knew at Christmas that you loved him and he loved you, but there's more to it now."

"Yes. You can ask me questions if you have any. Let's go outside, though. I went out last evening for a few minutes. It was so nice."

"You've been staying inside?"

"Yes. I thought there was a group of people and I was warned to stay inside the building. Let's go." He reached out to help her up.

Carole laughed and followed him out of the room and down the stairs and out of the building. He led her to the garden area since it was much closer than the woods. They walked through the flower gardens.

"When are you going to ask him to marry you?"

Kurt didn't answer.

"You already did, didn't you?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes."

"Did you set a date?"

"Yep."

"When is it?"

"I'll tell you when Thad's with us."

"Fair enough. You had an exam today?"

"Calculus AP exam. Thad had it and his French AP exam this afternoon. I took the French one last year. I have one left tomorrow morning - Music Theory."

"And Sebastian is in different classes because he went to school in France before he came here last fall."

"Correct."

"This garden is really beautiful."

"It really is. This is the one that botany class cultivates each year. They have a small greenhouse where they grow stuff year round too."

"Are they growing mandrakes in there?" she teased.

"If they are, they're a mute variety I've never heard a single one screaming. The portraits on the walls don't move either, although a few of them are painted so that the people in them appear to be looking at you no matter where you stand in the room."

Carole laughed. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too. Not talking to you has been really, really hard." He side hugged her gently.

She wrapped her arm around his waist. "I know something I haven't told you. Your dad and I are driving to Chicago to see both you and Finn perform at Nationals."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Kurt became quite animated. "You could go on our field trip with us to the Shedd Aquarium! It looks really cool in the photos online. We're going the day before the competition."

"I bet we could do that. We were going to go up the day before. I think that's when the New Directions are leaving."

"We're leaving Friday and coming back Sunday. It's a tight fit for us because our finals start the Monday after we get back. Can I ask you a favor?"

"Sure, honey."

"Don't bring Finn to my graduation ceremony. Not because I don't want him here, but because if he comes here, he'll think that I'm going to his and there is just absolutely no way that I can sit through a graduation ceremony that will no doubt feature the 'poor dearly departed reformed bully' that was lost to tragedy and isn't with his classmates to graduate.'"

"I understand, Kurt. I'll tell him that he doesn't have to come."

"I may see if we can change our flight so that we won't even be in Ohio that day. We were waiting for Sebastian to fly with us, but he could fly by himself. He's done it plenty of times."

"You're leaving and not coming back, aren't you?"

"You're really good at the mom thing. This is why I couldn't talk to you. I don't want to put you in the middle. So, I'm not sure how to answer your question. Dad isn't going to take anything I have to say well, at all. And I don't want you to be in the middle."

"Honey, he's a big boy. He's going to have to get it through his thick skull that you're grown up now. You're nearly as old as your mother was when she decided to stay here with him instead of going back to France with her family."

Kurt nodded.

"You're doing the reverse. You and Thad are still going to France, aren't you? Even though Burt thinks you're going to Alaska for some reason."

"He thinks that because of something I said in passing that I never corrected him on. When he asked where I was applying to college, I told him I was applying to places as far away as Alaska, meaning that I was moving far away, but I wasn't telling him where at the time. He just took it at face value and thought I applied to school in Alaska."

"I see."

"I can't answer your question and make you lie to my dad."

"Alright, but I'm pretty sure that I'm right."

"I'm planning to go to Lima before school's out and spend the day going through everything in my room. I was pretty thorough last May, but I want to be sure. I'll come on a school day for McKinley so I won't run into anyone I know."

"Alright, if that's what you need to do. Let me know when and I'll do my best to have the day off."

Just then Kurt saw Thad coming around the edge of the garden wearing regular clothes. "I'm ready."

Kurt reached out for Thad's hand and Thad took it. "Okay, let's head out."

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Umm. Ice cream. It's warm enough for ice cream."

"Alright, you can be my chauffeur." She handed Kurt her keys and they walked to the parking lot. She got in behind the driver's seat. Thad rode shotgun. Kurt drove straight to the only ice cream shop he knew of. He parked. They got out and went inside. They made their choices, waited, and took their ice cream outside to eat at one of the small tables.

"I feel like an escaped prisoner. It feels so weird to be out without a bodyguard."

"It is weird," Thad agreed. "I've gotten used to Douglas being glued to you in public. So, you told her?"

"I let her read the letter. I couldn't think of any other way to make her believe since he had done an A+ job of convincing everyone."

"He hornswoggled your dad for sure." Carole said. "I never spent much time with him. He was all about hanging out with Finn and Burt. Watching games, doing 'guy' things, hanging out at the shop with them, and playing video games in Finn's room. He was polite at dinner when he stayed."

"Yeah, well, that was a carefully created front." Thad said. "I saw the real person he was with an exacto knife in his hand cutting up the man I love. I'm sure he was sporting a black eye back in early October."

"Honestly, I don't remember when it was, but yes I remember him having a black eye."

"That was from Sebastian punching him when he found him attacking Kurt in the bathroom at the club."

"Sebastian went a little Hulk on him. He kicked the stall door in and kicked and punched him," Kurt added.

"Well, I'm glad you have good friends now."

"I do. They're awesome." Kurt leaned over and whispered something in Thad's ear.

"Really?"

Kurt nodded.

Thad slid his sleeve up.

"Oh, Thad. That's really beautiful. Whoever did that is an amazing artist."

"She is. She did a great job."

"Well, gentlemen this has been a lovely treat to spend time with you, but I have to head back to Lima. It's 4:00 already and if I leave now, I can get back close to 5:30. Finn's been getting home from school around 4:00. I don't want to leave him there alone too long. Burt's in DC."

"I am really sorry for his loss, but not about the situation as a whole. Let me know what you think will be best when dealing with Dad about this."

"Alright."

"Oh, get your phone out." Kurt texted her without blocking his number. "Now you can call or text me."

"Thank you."

She stood up and so did he. He hugged her tight.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad waved as Carole drove off.

"Do you hear that?" Thad asked excitedly.

"Hear what?" He looked around and listened.

Thad leaned in. "The woods. The trees are calling our names."

Kurt laughed. "Yes, yes I do hear them. Come on."

They walked around the side of the building and out past the sports fields and out into the woods. The instant they were far enough in that they couldn't be seen from the opening, Thad threw his arms around Kurt's neck and kissed him like his life depended on it.

They both ended up breathless. Kurt took Thad's hand again and twirled him and then pulled him close again. "You're gorgeous."

"And you're beautiful."

They started walking again. "I've missed this so much."

"Me too."

Kurt started pointing out little things of interest - a bird's nest, a woodpecker's work, squirrels chasing each other. Thad smiled as he watched Kurt come back again.

"I had to tell her. I warned her last week to be careful because of that last threat. I couldn't have her live in fear one more day than she already had."

"I understand. I'm not upset, if you thought I'd be."

"I let her read the letter before you did."

"It's okay. She needed the proof. I've seen the proof first hand. I don't have to know what that whacko wrote to know that we're better off now that he's gone. I don't wish bad things on people, but it was hard not to. I wouldn't wish unaccepting parents on anyone, but plenty of people have had unaccepting parents without resorting to tormenting other people. He made his own choices about how he dealt with his lot in life. I feel bad that his life was miserable, but he had no right to make yours miserable just because his was."

"That is exactly what he said he did. He said he grew up being taught that gays deserved to be miserable and that he took it upon himself to make sure I was miserable."

"What an awful thing to do. No more talk about him. He's gone. Not that we can't ever talk about it. Just not right now, okay?"

"Yes. Right now, I want to talk about...I don't know." He stopped and twirled Thad again. "Carole guessed that I had already asked you to marry me."

"Mmm hmm."

"She wanted to know the date we've chosen."

"Oh. What did you say?"

"I told her that I wanted to tell her when you were with me. Then she forgot to ask again."

"Well, we're going to have to decide when we're going to tell them, if we're going to tell them."

They reached the bench in the clearing and sat down to rest. Thad was doing well, but it was a long hike considering how little walking they had been doing outside. Uneven surfaces were always harder than sidewalks.

"Straddle the bench." Kurt scooted really close. Kurt put his legs over the top of Thad's, basically wrapping his legs around Thad. Kurt scooted even closer. They were pretty much chest-to-chest flush, leaving just enough room to make kissing comfortable, which is exactly what Kurt did. Between kisses he said, "This is where we first kissed."

"It felt like electricity shot through me. You're a fantastic kisser."

"Mmm. I happen to think you're fabulous kisser." Kurt deepened the kiss and ran his hands through the back of Thad's hair gently.

Thad had his arms wrapped around Kurt for stability.

Kurt's phone pinged. And pinged a second time just a minute later.

"I bet Sebastian is looking for us. He's back from practice, it's dinnertime, and he can't find us."

"Text him. I don't want him to worry. You haven't told him anything yet."

Kurt responded. "I told him to meet us on the front steps in 20 minutes in regular clothes. Let's get moving."

"Just a little longer."

Kurt wrapped his arms around Thad and held him close. "I love you. Thank you for sticking with me through all of this."

"I'm not going anywhere, love. You're my forever. I love you so much." Thad kissed him one last time and Kurt helped him up from the position they were in. They walked up to the front stairs hand in hand.

Sebastian was sitting on the front steps in jeans and a t-shirt. "What are you two dolled up for? And what are you doing out walking around outside without any security?" He sounded concerned.

"Come on. We're going out for dinner."

"Out where?"

"Wherever we want."

Sebastian had a very confused look on his face. Kurt took his phone out of his pocket, pulled up the newspaper article, and handed the phone to Sebastian. He took it. They moved to the edge of the sidewalk and Sebastian read the article.

"It's over?"

"It's over. We'll tell you more later. We're free."

"The security is still at the school."

"They're under contract until the school year ends. The headmaster isn't going to break the contract."

"I see. You're free? We can go to my dad's this weekend and go out and have fun?"

"Sure!" Kurt said.

Sebastian pulled Kurt into a bear hug, the realization finally settling in his mind. "Oh, my God - it's over."

"It is."

All of a sudden, Sebastian's expression dimmed. "Are you still coming with me?"

"Of course," Kurt said.

"Sorry. I panicked. I thought you might have changed your mind since you don't have to get away."

"And break up the three musketeers? No way."

Sebastian's expression changed back to relief. The three of them headed off in search of some place to eat dinner.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Once they were back in Kurt and Thad's room, Kurt suddenly realized something. "I can go to your qualifications game Friday. I'm calling the car service. Your dad's going to the game, right?" Kurt shut the door behind them.

"Yeah."

"Then we can just go home with him afterward."

"This is why you're the planning musketeer," Sebastian said.

"There is no planning musketeer."

"Is so. You're him."

"Then what are you?"

"I'm the handsome, debonair musketeer."

Kurt pushed Sebastian on the bed and started to tickle him. "That's not true. We're all handsome and debonair. You have to come up with a better role than 'I stand around and look good doing it.'"

Sebastian was laughing too hard to think of anything.

"He's the agitator and comic relief," Thad offered.

"I...am...not...the...jester," he said between laughing and trying to catch his breath.

"I know, I know," Kurt said as he let up just a little. "He's the patron."

"What?"

As soon as Sebastian questioned Kurt's choice for him, Kurt started to tickle him more.

"Okay, okay. At least explain the patron's position."

"He funds all our excursions," Kurt said matter-of-factly.

"Thad has as much money as I do," Sebastian countered.

"Thad is the bard," Kurt said.

"Now, how is that fair?" Sebastian managed to flip them when Kurt was thinking.

Kurt was laughing too hard to answer him.

"You have to let him talk if you want an answer," Thad said.

"True, true." He gave him time to breathe, but still sat on him so Kurt couldn't flip them again.

"It's fair because Thad writes music and you don't. He's the bard."

"I still need a better job than 'patron'. I'm certainly not the brawn."

"The brawn will have to be your boyfriend as our fourth musketeer."

"Boyfriend?"

"Yeah, the one we're going to look for when we get to France."

"Kurt has it all planned out."

"That figures. He is the PLANNER. Bard sounds really awesome. We have to come up with better descriptors than 'planner' and 'patron' and I'm not the patron anyway," Sebastian insisted. "I make things fun and entertaining."

"You turned down 'jester.'" Kurt reminded him.

"Hmm... I need a thesaurus, but I'm too busy at the moment." He resumed tickling Kurt.

"Fine, fine. You're the best tickler in the whole world. Let me up, please."

Sebastian hopped right off and sat down next to Kurt after he sat up.

"Deviser. I devise things. You can be the quipster."

"Hmm. I'm not sure. And what's this plan of yours to get me a boyfriend?"

"We're going to go out dancing at those places you told me about where we can waltz and whatnot and we'll find you a nice guy that can dance."

"That's it? He's going to have muscles and can waltz?"

"The plan is in the beginning stages. It's hard to devise a good plan when I've not been there yet to have any epiphanies."

"And he has to be the fourth musketeer?"

"Well, if he doesn't like me and Thad, that's going to be really problematic since we're all going to be living together."

"True. But how will I EVER find someone one who will like all THREE of us?" Sebastian faked moaned.

"Well, Thad and I are easy to love. You just have to work on you." Kurt pulled his knees up to his chest before Sebastian could manage to grab him and start to tickle him again.

Sebastian pouted.

Kurt leaned up and wrapped his arms around Sebastian. "You're lovable. Don't worry."

"Gotcha!" Sebastian pinned him to the bed again, but let him right back up without tickling him. "Thanks," he said, hugging him. "Being around you two made me all soft and mushy and...lovable. What will my old friends think?" He put the back of his hand up to his forehead and tipped his head back.

"That you've lost your blasted mind with the melodramatic poses," Thad said laughing.

"Could be," he said assuming the _Thinker_ pose.

"Could you be any more of a ham?"

"I'm not sure, but I can try," Sebastian countered.

"And this is why I love you."

"Wait what?"

"Of course I love you, you dimwit. I thought you knew that already. I mean Thad declared us brothers ages ago."

"That's it. We'll go to France and, Sebastian, you can tell everyone that you met the brother that you never knew you had. Like _Parent Trap_ , only you two don't look alike. Fraternal twins."

"Cousins maybe," Kurt said.

"We could be. You never know. We can do family trees when we get there."

"Alright, as much fun as all of this is, Kurt and I have one more AP exam tomorrow morning. So, either go get something to study or read, or just be quiet so we can study some more."

"Got it." He left.

Kurt locked him out of the bathroom so he and Thad could change quickly. A few minutes later, they could hear slight scratching on the door and whining like a sad puppy that had been left out in the cold. Kurt unlocked the bathroom door and Sebastian came bounding in.

"You're a puppy now?"

"Why not, just about everyone loves puppies."

"Well, not whiny puppies," Kurt said as Sebastian flopped down on the extra bed.

Sebastian pretended to scratch at his ear.

"Or ones with fleas. Yuck. Flea bath for you."

"Stop you two. Study."

"Yes, Mom," Sebastian said.

"Argh!"

"We'll be good. We promise," Kurt said. He snuggled up against Thad and looked at the page that Thad was reading.

Sebastian started reading the book he brought with him.

Kurt didn't manage to focus on Music Theory at all. The fact that he still needed to tell his dad weighed heavily on his mind.

He texted Carole and found out that his dad was landing the next afternoon. He asked if she could pick them up near Dublin the next day around 2:00. Kurt still had the boxes of shoes and a few clothes and coats that he wasn't planning to take to France that he hadn't done anything with since he had been scared into staying in the building. Thad would be going with him.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After their exam, they went up to their room and changed into regular clothes. Thad looked through his clothes and weeded out ones that he hadn't worn in a while. Kurt looked through the winter ones Thad wasn't keeping and kept a few of the button ups for himself since he never had gone back out and gone shopping. He wanted to have at least a week's worth of long-sleeved shirts to wear. Kurt packed up a few pairs of Thad's shoes as well. Some of them just weren't functional with the brace on.

Thad sat on the front steps with their stuff for the weekend, while Kurt made a few trips up and down the stairs with the boxes, leaving them with Thad as he made more trips. Kurt loaded the boxes and their bags into the town car when it came.

The car service dropped them off at the resale shop. Kurt and Thad looked around while the shop went through their items. Kurt found a nice dark chocolate brown casual blazer that he thought would go with a lot of his clothes and looked a lot nicer than a hoodie for days when a coat was too heavy, but just a cardigan wasn't enough. It was washable, which pushed it over into the "buy it" pros and cons list Kurt was making in his mind.

He found one nice pair of dark khakis that fit well and he put those with the blazer up at the front. He and Thad sat outside just to enjoy the weather while the shop finished up with their items. They went back inside 20 minutes later and settled everything. There was a small box of items that they didn't take. Kurt picked it up and took it outside with them to wait for Carole, who arrived just a few minutes later.

Kurt directed Carole to the closest Goodwill. Kurt dropped of the small box of stuff and they went inside to look around. Kurt found a really nice dark plum long-sleeved shirt in his size. He bought it. Carole found a nice dress she could wear to some of the political events she had to go to. They left the store and went to find a place to eat since all of them had skipped lunch.

After they ate, they looked through a bookstore just enjoying themselves. Kurt had really missed looking through the new releases. He took pictures of several books he wanted to read so that he could download them at some point.

They left the bookstore and headed to the airport. They waited in the passenger pick up area and pulled up to the doors once Burt texted Carole. He was surprised to see Kurt hop out of the car and grab his luggage to put it in the trunk. When Kurt came back around the car, Burt pulled him into a bear hug. They both got back in the car.

The drive back to Lima seemed to take forever. Kurt didn't want to tell his dad what had been going on in the car, but it was hard not to when Burt knew that Kurt had practically sworn that he would never step foot in Lima again. Yet, here he was in the car going home with them. He managed to convince his dad that he needed a short nap because he had stayed up way too late studying for the AP exam he had taken that morning.

When they got to the house, Kurt carried in his and Thad's bags. He quickly tossed the new blazer and shirt into the washer. Carole had assured him that no one else would be home because the New Directions were going to Rachel's for a sleepover and staying there the next day since school had been cancelled for Karofsky's public service.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Once Burt had been able to sit down for a few minutes and enjoy his beer, Kurt, Thad and Carole all went to sit with him in the living room.

"Dad, I need to talk to you."

"I figured as much. You haven't been in Lima in nearly a year. You haven't left that school except for a few choir things in months. What's going on?"

"I need you to listen carefully. What I have to tell you is going to be very upsetting."

"Terrific," he grumbled.

"Trust me, this is really hard for me to do."

"Get on with it. You know I'm not a fan of beating around the bush."

"Karofsky played you and Finn. He never reformed. He used Finn, you, and Blaine occasionally, to get information on me to continue his reign of terror."

"What?!"

"I told you it would be upsetting. Please try to listen."

"Santana figured out that he was gay and that's how she blackmailed him into joining the Bullywhips."

"Dave had a steady girlfriend. Wait, how do you know he was gay?"

"He didn't threaten to kill me because I was gay. When I went to confront him that day in the locker room for bullying me, he kissed me and would have managed it a second time if I hadn't pushed him away from me. He threatened to kill me because I knew his secret."

"You kept his secret all this time."

"He went to a conversion camp with his mother over the summer as a 'volunteer', but his real mission was to convert himself. He didn't want to be under Santana's thumb and he absolutely did NOT want to be gay. He felt like he had been successful because he did everything the camp taught him. He got a girlfriend and started having sex with her to make himself straight."

"This is nuts."

"Dad. Stop. Listen to me. Karofsky is the one that got all of the jocks to bully me. He's the one that attacked me in the club in Columbus. He was the ringleader for the vandalism at Dalton. He set my truck on fire. He cornered me in a museum in Columbus."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"He threatened to hurt me again, to kill me. Then he threatened Thad. Then 'the people I love', which I took him to mean you and Carole. He was the one vandalizing the house and shop. He killed himself, Dad. The incident on the lake wasn't an accident. He couldn't stand his life anymore. He couldn't quit being gay. His family was going to disown him if they found out and his family taught him that gay people deserved to be miserable because they would eventually turn to God and repent if they were miserable enough."

"That's insane."

"I agree. But when push came to shove and he was supposed to follow through on his threats to hurt you and Carole, he couldn't do it because the two of you had shown him more compassion than his own family ever had. He killed himself because he couldn't go on being so miserable."

"But he had reformed."

"No. He had learned to play the game. He used you and Finn to get info on me. He hung out here getting bits of info to use against me." Kurt rolled up his sleeve and showed Burt his arm.

"You got a tattoo?"

"Yes. It's covering over the scars he left on my arm. I couldn't face seeing those words on me for the rest of my life."

"You never said that words had been carved into your arm. It's a nice tattoo. I just never imagined you with a tattoo."

"Me either and if he hadn't carved me up that night, I probably would have never gotten one. But I do like it."

"What did it say?"

"The same thing that was spray painted on the side of the school."

Burt shook his head in disgust. "How do you know all of that stuff and Santana and the conversion camp?"

Kurt took the letter out of his bag and handed it to Burt, who opened it and read through it.

"It's just so hard to believe. I let him trick me. He spent all that time here. I took him on vacation with us. I welcomed him here. All the while, my actions pushed you farther away. Kurt..." Tears flowed down his cheeks.

"I'm going to give you some time to think through all of this. Thad and I will be up in my room."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt opened his closet to find that all that was left were a couple of small plastic shoe storage boxes with a few keepsakes, like his Power Rangers figures, that he had packed up nearly a year ago. He was glad that he hadn't asked Finn to just put everything from the closet in his truck last fall. At least he still had the small things he had kept.

He looked around the room and there was nothing on the shelves that he would take. He went through his desk and didn't find anything personal. He checked under the bed and found nothing. He had been quite thorough the year before.

"I'll be right back." He leaned over and kissed Thad, who had been sitting on the bed messing with Garage Band on his iPad while Kurt looked around.

Kurt went downstairs and found an empty shoebox and a paper shopping bag with handles and took them back upstairs. He emptied the contents of his desk into the shoebox. He put the plastic shoe storage boxes into the paper shopping bag to take back to Dalton with them.

"Come with me?"

"Of course."

Kurt took the box of office supplies with him. He found Carole and gave it to her. She just nodded sadly and took it from him. Kurt tossed the jacket and shirt into the dryer on the lowest setting in an attempt to get some of the wrinkles out. While they dried, he and Thad looked through the basement storage room.

"All of my old costumes are in here. I need to just tell Carole to donate those somewhere." He looked around carefully to make sure nothing else in the room belonged to him. When he was convinced there was nothing else, he turned the light off and went back to check on the clothes. He hung both items up to finish drying. Thad followed him back upstairs to the living room where Kurt looked through the bookcase until he found a baby book.

Kurt took the baby book upstairs to the office and scanned each page and stored it on a flash drive he had in his satchel. "Wait in my room, okay? I'll be right back." Kurt put the baby book back on the shelf and went back to his room.

"I think that's it." Kurt sat down on the bed next to Thad. "There was a lot less left here to do than I thought. I'm honestly not sure what else to do. It's been so long since I've been here and I hardly lived here to start with. It doesn't feel like home." He tipped his head over and laid it on Thad's shoulder. "I guess I'll go back down and see if there's anything that Dad wants to talk about. Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad found Burt in the den watching baseball on TV. They sat down in an oversized chair together. Kurt slid down in the chair a little and put his head on Thad's chest and Thad wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulders.

After a few minutes, Burt clicked the TV off. Kurt sat up and Thad put his arm down between them and took Kurt's hand and interlaced their fingers.

"So, I've been sitting here going through things in my mind. I'm trying to figure out when I went from being on your side to becoming confrontational with you. Somewhere along the way I lost us. I felt like you kept me at arm's length - like I tried to learn about the things you liked, it just didn't stick because it didn't interest me. Just like you tried to like football that first year you played because I liked it and you wanted to have something in common."

Kurt nodded.

"And somehow along the way, rather than trying harder to find common ground and draw us back together, I just wanted you to stop making it so hard. Like, how hard could it be to sit and watch a sporting event with me and actually pay attention? I went to plays with you and didn't read fishing magazines while we were there. You tried to tell me that standing up for yourself would never work. I couldn't wrap my mind around that and I just told myself you were just to afraid to try and that because of that, you did bring a lot of it on yourself like Finn said. I mean, I wanted you to be yourself. I guess I just wanted the person you wanted to be - to be less out there and more..."

"Normal?"

"Yeah. I never wanted to change you. I just wanted you to want to be less 'you'. I know that's wrong. But in all honesty, I wanted to be your buddy - to hang out with you. You were all I had. As we grew apart, it ripped me apart. I didn't know how to be suave and as much as I tried, I never could notice all of those little things you pointed out about the differences in two suits. They just looked like suits to me."

He took a deep breath and continued.

"I don't think there is an answer. I can't pinpoint when or how or exactly why we couldn't manage to speak the same language. You needed me and I needed you and we struggled to make any of it work. I can't make macaroni and cheese come out right and what you make looks better than those cooking shows on TV. I can't sew a button on without getting blood on the shirt from stabbing myself and you can make things that look like they should be on a runway model somewhere. You can fix a car like nobody's business, but you don't want to take over the shop. You got MVP on the football team, but you have no interest in the sport whatsoever. I don't know how to connect with you."

Kurt chimed in. "But Karofsky was easy. He fit right in with you and Finn. I understand that. I know that we have very little in common and I think what you're seeing this evening is that it's not because I'm gay - it's because I'm me. Finding out that Karofsky was gay threw you, didn't it?"

"Yeah. I mean, his interests were like mine and Finn's. He was a guy's guy."

"I know I'm not that kind of guy. I know that you tried. I always considered you to be the best dad. You attended my tea parties, took me to plays and musicals, you came to watch me perform, and you encouraged me. I knew I wasn't the kind of boy that made things easier on you. I did try to become that person that was less 'me'. I wasn't good at it because it just wasn't me."

Burt nodded.

"I think I can pinpoint when things came crashing down for me was when we were cooking that night and you got so upset with me. I felt like you didn't know me - like you had lumped me into a group of perverts when at that point I had never even kissed anyone I liked. I felt like you thought the same things about me that all of the guys at school had always said about me - that I was a cockslut, that I just wanted someone to fuck me, that all I was interested in was converting them so I could blow them."

Burt was shocked to hear such language coming out of Kurt.

"I know you apologized a while later, but it drove a wedge in between us where you took on this controlling 'I'm the parent' attitude that you'd never really taken with me before."

"I know. I really don't have an answer."

"You stopped listening to what I was saying and that hurt. It was like the trust we had between us was gone. I rebelled and stuck to my guns. I didn't need you to tell me what to do. It's true. I didn't, but I still needed you. I turned to Carole instead. She listened. She told me what she thought, but didn't act like I had to do what she said."

"I'm glad she was there for you."

"There are some other things I need to tell you, but you need to realize that yelling or telling me that I need to change my plans isn't going to have any effect on the issues."

"Alright. I know I've messed a lot of things up. Things aren't going to right themselves overnight."

"So, when you asked about colleges. I told you that I was applying to places as far away as Alaska."

"Yeah."

"I didn't want anyone to know where I was going. Karofsky had infiltrated my family. He was here all the time. I've barely ever spent time here. I couldn't have him know where I was going, so I couldn't let you know where I was going. I've been working on my exit all school year."

"What do you mean 'exit'?"

"I was just going to leave. No information about where I was going. I was going to keep up the weekly calls home with my number blocked so that no one could figure out where I was. I needed to be free."

"I see. So, you were just going to graduate and vanish."

"Exactly. But since he's gone and can no longer stalk me, I will tell you if you want to know. You won't like the answer, though."

"Tell me."

"Let me get Carole first." He pulled out his phone and texted her rather than yell for her or go look for her.

She came down the stairs and sat next to Burt.

"I'm going to France for college."

"France?"

"I have dual citizenship and I applied for my French ID card last fall. At Thanksgiving, I had the interview and by early winter I had my French passport. I can go to college in France for less than $500 a year."

"So, you're leaving the country?"

"Yes. Staying here to be tormented and stalked wasn't an option. I was going to just leave. It wasn't my intention to cut you out of my life. You did that first. And you had Finn and Carole. I knew you'd be okay. And I had to make it so that I would be okay too."

"And Thad?"

"I'm going too, sir. I applied to schools in France as well. I have dual UK/US citizenship, so as a EU citizen I can go to college in France inexpensively as well."

"So you speak French too?"

"I do. Not as well as Kurt, but well enough."

"I see."

"I've lived in the UK, Spain, and France before. I've only been in the US since I started high school."

"Where are you going to live?"

"With Sebastian. His mom is getting married in June and moving in with her new husband. Thad and I are moving into her room in their flat in Paris."

"In a room as roommates?"

"No. In a room as partners."

"I see."

"Do you know how long we've been together?"

"A while."

"Specifically."

"Um, I guess not."

"14 months, during which you've pretty much repeated history."

"What do you mean?"

"What did my mother's parents do?"

"Shun me. Not accept me."

Kurt waited.

"Oh."

"Yeah. You accepted the guy that had threatened to kill me and ran me out of my school, but you didn't accept Thad, the man who loves me and has stuck by me through everything terrible that has happened this year."

"You're right."

"The same day we had the argument over the way you had reacted about my 'inappropriate' behavior, I warned you not to treat Thad like he wasn't good enough. I told you all that time ago that he was important to me. Instead of welcoming him, you did the opposite. We talked about it, but even at Christmas you were still struggling with it. I gave you every opportunity. I told you I couldn't come here, but that you were welcome at the school any time. You never came. Only for the official family things, which I'm glad you came to. I know you got busy after you had to start spending time in DC, but I missed you, Dad."

"I guess deep down I thought you'd come around and that you'd see that you could come home. I was wrong."

"This house is your home, but not mine. It was bought after I had left. It's beautiful, but it's just a house to me. My home is with Thad."

"I get that. I'm not sure how to change anything."

"Me either."

"You're not going to show that letter to anyone else are you?"

"No. It wouldn't change anything. But as I told Carole earlier, I can't attend Finn's graduation. I can't sit through a ceremony that will no doubt have some sort of tribute to the missing senior. I told her to let Finn skip mine. He and I had worked things out and then Karofsky moved in and I had to avoid Finn for my own safety. So, I'm sure he has no interest in attending my graduation anyway."

"But he was excited to go see your play."

"Dad, think about it. Karofsky had used Blaine to get to me. I'm sure getting the gang together to see me was just a ploy to be able to stalk me close up and personal and to make me lose the enjoyment of performing once I saw that he was there."

"Oh."

"He's being playing the long game, very strategic."

Carole's phone started beeping. "Dinner's ready. Let's go eat."

Everyone got up and followed her upstairs. Thad hung back a bit and kept hold of Kurt's hand. Once Burt was halfway up the steps, Thad leaned over and kissed Kurt gently.

"I love you. You're amazing."

"I love you too. I'm sorry everything is always so tense. Your parents are so easy to spend time with."

"You're trying. That's all you can do."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"This is really good, Carole," Thad said.

"I'm glad you like it, sweetie."

"So yesterday afternoon I asked Kurt something and he said he wanted to wait to talk about it until you were with him."

"Right," Kurt said. "Carole asked me if I was going to propose to Thad."

Burt nearly choked. He took a drink.

"And then by my reaction, she figured out that I already had."

"What?" Burt asked. "You're only 18."

"How old was my mother when you met her?"

"19."

"And how long had you known each other when you got married?"

"Not quite 8 months."

"And how long have Thad and I been together?"

"You said 14 months."

Kurt took Thad's hand under the table. Thad nodded almost imperceptibly.

"I asked Thad earlier this year."

"I see," Burt said.

Carole said, "I asked him if they had set a date and that's when he said he'd tell me when Thad was with him."

Burt nodded.

"Well, the date we chose was March 5th."

"Well, that's a while from now," Burt said.

"Was?" Carole said, ever perceptive.

"Yes," Kurt answered.

"What do you mean 'was'?" Burt asked.

"We got married March 5th."

"What?!"

"Dad, it was a simple statement. There's really nothing to clarify."

"You eloped?" Burt asked.

"Yes." Kurt reached up and pulled the chain out from under his shirt and let it hang where it could be seen. Thad did the same.

"So, you're already married?" Burt asked.

"Dad, this is not that hard to understand. Sebastian, Thad, and I drove to New York. Thad and I got a marriage license, waited the required time period, and got married in Buffalo on March 5th. Sebastian was our best man."

"I thought you wanted a big fancy wedding. You were all 'Mr. Wedding Planner' for our wedding."

"What I really wanted was to find someone who loved me, just me the way I am, and whom I loved unconditionally. We got married for ourselves. Not for anyone else or to show off."

"Do you have any pictures, honey?"

"Sure. After we finish, I can open them on your laptop if you want."

"I'd like that."

They finished eating in silence. Kurt ate left handed rather than let go of Thad's hand.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad cleared the table, loaded the dishwasher, and started it while Carole set her laptop up on the table. Kurt sat down and signed into his iCloud account and brought up the pictures from the wedding.

"You two look so dashing and so does Sebastian. Those dark shirts with the vests look really good."

"Thanks."

"Can I save some of these so I can print them?"

"Sure. Which ones?"

She pointed them out and Kurt downloaded them to her laptop.

"You'll need to save them to a disc or flash drive to be able to take them to be printed."

"I'll be right back with a disc. I don't have a flash drive." She came back and put a disc in the laptop and Kurt burned the photos to it.

"Can I see your rings?"

"Of course." Kurt pulled his chain back out and took his ring off and handed it to her.

"What does that word that's written on the inside mean?"

"It means 'forever' in French."

She smiled. "Are your rings the same?"

"Almost. His says Thad & Kurt. Mine says Kurt & Thad. That way we can tell them apart when they're hanging on the chains without having to put the rings on."

"Did you hyphenate your last names?"

"No, we left them. Neither one of us wanted to change every legal document, especially when we're planning to leave in June. We would have risked not having everything back by the time it was time to leave."

"I didn't think about that."

"So, Dad's pretty upset. I knew he would be. If you want, you can drive us to Art's house and you can try to help him work through this."

"No, honey. Please stay the night. I'll take you to his house in the morning, like we'd planned. For one thing, I'm really just too tired to drive two more hours today."

"I understand. That's fine."

"I just have one last question. Who else knows that you're married?"

"Just Headmaster Carlson."

"So, you haven't told Thad's parents yet?"

Thad answered, "No, we wanted to tell them in person."

"I'd really like to meet them and talk to them for more than five minutes. Are they coming for graduation?"

Thad answered. "They're actually going to be in Chicago for a job when we're performing. They chose it and arranged it purposefully to be at the same time we'd be there. So, they're staying for work until the 23rd. Then, they're driving to Ohio to stay for four days - for graduation and Kurt's birthday."

"And you said that you and Dad are going to Nationals, so maybe we can arrange for you two spend time with them then. If not, definitely on graduation."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"I think we'll head on up to bed. It seems like Dad's not going to come back out for tonight. Maybe he'll be more talkative in the morning before we leave."

Kurt and Thad stood up and pushed their chairs in.

Carole got up too. She hugged Kurt and then Thad. "Congratulations. I'm really happy for you two."

"Thanks," Thad said.

"Thank you," Kurt responded.

"I'll see you two in the morning."

"Good night," they both said as they headed upstairs.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad showered quickly and got in bed. Lying in the dark, Kurt was the first one to say anything.

"What I said earlier is true. YOU are my home. Wherever you are, that's home to me. I love you. And while a lot of things may not have gone the way I had planned or even hoped at one point in time, I am happy with you and with our plans. Are you?"

"I am. It will take some time to get used to speaking French all the time, but I'll get the hang of it. And being with you is where I want to be. If at some point we decide we don't want to live in France anymore, we can go to the UK or come back here to the States. As long as we're together, where we are isn't that important to me."

"Me neither. I'm not really ready to sleep. I'm exhausted but my mind is still reeling. We didn't watch the _Downton Abbey_ Christmas episode yet. Will you watch it with me or are you ready to sleep?"

"I'll watch it with you."

Kurt got up and got his laptop out, turned it on and pulled _Downton Abbey_ up on Amazon.

Kurt got up to put the laptop away when the episode was over. "So, Sybil is pregnant and Mary is being blackmailed. And the affair with the maid. My, my. Nothing has changed in a hundred years. Blackmail and affairs. Power and sex still cause trouble."

Thad laughed.

"I love their outfits, but I think about wearing them all the time and all the effort that went into cleaning them and ironing them and keeping them looking nice. You would either have spent all of your free time tending to clothing or had to have had enough money to pay someone else to do it."

"Tough choice for someone like you who likes his clothes done just right."

"It would be, wouldn't it. I guess I'd have to give on my standards since I would want to do other things with my time, like design more fabulous clothes for someone else to wash and iron," he laughed. He got back into bed with Thad.

Thad curled up against him and was trying to get comfortable so they could fall asleep.

"I hate all of these clothes on." Kurt said. "I'm getting up and locking the door. The 'no boys in my room, leave the door unlocked' rule will no longer be heeded." Kurt locked the door and put his chair in front of it, just in case. He stripped and got back in bed. Thad sat on the edge and undressed as well.

Thad scooted over and made Kurt his body pillow and got comfortable.

Kurt ran his hand up and down Thad's arm. "Much better."

Thad ran his hand all over Kurt and said, "I agree."

They kissed and held each other close until the fell asleep.


	25. Chapter 25

The next morning, the four of them sat down for breakfast. Burt and Carole were already dressed for the day, but Thad and Kurt were still in their pajamas. Carole had gotten up early and made a full breakfast - pancakes, eggs, turkey bacon, fruit and coffee. They passed the food around, each taking what they wanted.

"Dad, I want to say one thing before you start to talk. I want to make sure that you understand that I'm not angry with you that you believed Karofsky's reformed persona was real. Of all of the people who knew me and knew what went on at school, I can only name one person who didn't buy into his lie."

"And who was that?"

"Sam."

"I see. Dave was very determined to be different."

"I get that. He wanted his family to accept him. I think most kids want that."

"You gave up on that, though didn't you?"

"I knew you loved me. I always knew that. I still know that. I gave up on trying to be someone I'm not to please other people. You saw from his letter that no matter how much effort someone puts into being the person other people want them to be, even if the person WANTS to be the way other people want him to, it doesn't make the person happy. He went to a lot greater lengths than I did. I just kissed Brittany. I dressed butch for a week or whatever. I sang a song that's not my style. I joined the football team. He actually dated a girl and had sex with her for an entire school year, telling her that he loved her. Who knows how much of his football and hockey playing was because he actually liked it. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. We'll never know. He did well in Glee. He was actually a really good singer. Back when I was at McKinley, he was so angry that I was myself and 'flaunted it' because I was doing exactly what he couldn't. So, he tried to bully me into not being so flamboyant. If I would 'tone it down', then he wouldn't have to see me being who I was and enjoying my life."

Kurt ate some of his food, thinking about what to say next.

"I think over the summer, he focused on his own conversion. In the fall, Blaine moved to McKinley. He dresses more outlandishly than I ever did, colorwise. He wears primary colored pants that don't cover his ankles, with polos, bow ties, no socks and deck shoes. But he was probably a person Karofsky looked up to in a way. He confronted Karofsky with me at one point and told him that 'he wasn't alone'. When Blaine started dating Rachel and was happy about it, it probably made Karofsky think that he could do it too. He knew that Blaine liked guys, but then he liked girls too."

"I always did wonder why the two of them palled around together."

"Blaine's dad wasn't thrilled that he was gay. Being bi and dating a girl probably improved Blaine's home life tremendously. He made a choice that his family approved of. I'm not saying that he chose Rachel to make his family happy. I'm just saying that dating a girl rather than a boy would have made his dad happier with him. Now, I don't know what impact it has that Rachel has two dads. Maybe they're the type of people that say 'It's fine for other people, just not our family. I have nothing against gays. I'm just glad my kid isn't gay.'"

Kurt finished what little he had put on his plate. He knew he'd never be able to eat much, but didn't want to be rude after Carole had put so much effort into it.

"I've gotten off track. Anyway, I'm not angry with you that you believed him. Nearly everyone did. I don't even expect you to apologize for believing him. He was obviously very, very convincing. Con artists con people all the time. I know you regret believing him, but I'm not expecting an apology, if that's what you think."

Burt responded, "Honestly, I don't know what to think. I've always considered myself to be a decent judge of character, but I think I've not been as observant as I should have been. You knew he was faking all of it, but you also covered over your true feelings, but not in an attempt to fool me, but in an attempt to protect yourself and Thad."

"I will always protect Thad."

"I get that. I do. If someone were threatening Carole, I would protect her."

"I know."

"I thought about a lot of things last night. I think where this got so screwed up was that I wanted you here in Lima with me, with us. I wanted us to be a family. We bought this nice big house where you and Finn could have you own space. It has a den and a living room, so more than one group of people could be over a time. It has a big dining room where lots of people could sit and eat together. Dave being reformed and him and Santana getting the bullies under control seemed like it was a great solution to my problem of missing you and not having you here with us. And then you came in barrels blasting announcing that you wouldn't be coming back - it was like ice water was thrown in my face. You left because of the bullying, but it was over and you refused to come home. And that was before the accident."

"I didn't trust him. I didn't believe that he had changed."

"And after the accident, I was sure I could get you to come home. Hell, Carole's a nurse, she could have helped you take care of Thad. We all could have. But you dug your heels in and stayed in Westerville and I dug my heels in and stayed here. And I made the wrong choice. You had your freedom there. If you had come here, you would have been stuck in the house all the time. When I said I wasn't sure where things had gone wrong last night, this is that point for me. When I wouldn't even call you, that's where things went really wrong. We were arguing before then, but that's when the communication shut down and it was all on me. You and Carole came out of the summer closer."

"She became my mom last summer. She showed me that I wasn't just the stepkid she got in the deal. She showed me that she loved me like a son."

Carole had tears managing to slip through her efforts to contain them.

"I think my issue was that having you here was my only way of being close to you. Eating meals with you, getting what little information about your life that I could get. Watching a few shows together. Playing board games after family dinners. That's what I had with you because I could never figure out how to really connect with you, whereas Carole did. She didn't have to be in the same room with you to be close to you."

Kurt spoke again. "I didn't come back to rehash our old arguments or to prove anything to you. I wanted you to know the truth. I wanted you to understand, to know, what I've been going through. I wanted you to know where I'm going and who I'm going there with. I want you to know that I love you and Carole. I'm not holding any grudges. You did what you thought was right. I can't fault you for that. People make mistakes. I've made plenty."

Burt nodded.

"I had always hoped that you would be glad when I found someone to love, who loved me in return. Thad is a genuinely nice person. He's been at Dalton for four years and I don't know a single person who doesn't like him. He's kind, patient, helpful, honest, intelligent, hardworking, and dependable. I'm a lucky guy to find someone like him. Those are qualities that are hard to find in one person. And on top of all of those things, he loves me - the real me. The one with 10 skin care products. The one who cleans obsessively when I'm stressed out. He sits with me and gets me to eat when I've slipped back into not eating. And on the rare occasion when he couldn't be there, he's gotten other people to look in on me. He's stayed with me through really hard times. Things I don't even want to talk about."

Kurt stopped talking and took a deep breath and wiped the tears away with the hand that Thad wasn't holding under the table.

"You kept shutting him out. And after I practically begged you to come see me in Westerville, it seemed like you just weren't interested in seeing me if Thad was going to be around. I just can't figure out why. Carole likes him. Everyone but you likes him. He's been nothing but amazing to me. Of everything that has happened, that's actually what hurts the most - that it seems like you don't want me to be happy."

"It's not reasonable, but it's true - it's not that I didn't want you to be happy. I just wanted you to be happy here, not there. And I knew that you finding a boy would tip the scales against me. I don't have anything personal against Thad. Through no one's fault but my own, I don't know him well enough to have anything against him. I said I would change, but I got busy and never did anything to actually follow through on what I said. But you're right that Carole loves him. I do want you happy. I am glad that you're happy. You deserve to be happy."

"Thank you."

"I know I only have a month left, but I am going to stop behaving childishly. You were never something to be fought over. I'm sorry."

Kurt nodded. He was still hurt, but it was a start. "You said that Christmas. Apologizing only goes so far. You have to actually follow through with actions, not just words."

Kurt stood up and started helping Carole clear the table, leaving Burt and Thad at the table together.

"I'm sorry I didn't do what I said I would do. Kurt really loves you. I'm glad he's had someone who has been there for him through all of this."

"I'll always be there for him. I love him."

"I'm glad."

Thad nodded.

"Dad, wait here for a minute." Kurt ran upstairs and came right back down. He handed Burt an iPod with headphones. He chose the playlist he wanted. "I want you to listen to this. These are the professional recordings of some of Thad's songs. Just listen. We'll be back down in a bit, after we get ready."

Thad stood up from the table and followed Kurt back upstairs.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt had Thad pressed against the door kissing up his neck. "I meant every word I said about you. I'm thankful every day that you want to be with me. I love you so much."

"I love you too." Thad put his hands on Kurt's shoulders, gently pushing him back just enough that he could think and say what was on his mind. "You are amazing. I know you still struggle to see it and you still feel like I'm doing you some type of favor being with you. That's not the case at all. Those things you said about me are true about you, you know. I don't know a single person at Dalton that dislikes you. You are sweet and kind and all of those things you said about me. You are brave and courageous. And I'm thankful everyday that you want to be with me." He slipped his arms around Kurt's neck pulling him in close, and he kissed him passionately, running his hands up under Kurt's shirt.

"Do you want to? Carole left to do some errands and my dad is listening to your music."

"Did you bring stuff with you?"

"Yes. Our travel bag still had stuff in it from Buffalo when we had our own room."

Thad was already sitting on the bed taking his brace off. Kurt undressed and Thad slid back in the bed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Forty minutes later, they were back downstairs in simple outfits of shorts, t-shirts, and chucks. They were wearing their rings on their fingers, but still had the chains on under their shirts for later when they went to Sebastian's lacrosse game.

Burt was still sitting at the table when they found him. The play list was nearly over. They sat down across the table from him and just waited. A few minutes later, Burt took the ear buds out and stood up enough to hand them to Kurt across the table.

"That was something. You wrote that music? All on your own?"

"Yes, sir."

"It made me feel happy and sad at time, and it was just really moving."

"Thank you."

"Is that what your going to study in college?"

"Yes. Music composition. I'd like to do scoring for films some day."

"Well, you're already really good. That was really impressive."

"What was impressive?" Carole asked as she came in through the kitchen. She had a small cardboard sleeve in her hand. She sat down next to Burt.

"Kurt had me listen to the recording that Thad did at a studio. Music he wrote."

"Oh, I'd like to hear it," Carole said.

"We can play it later when you drive us to Sebastian's."

"Alright."

"What's in the cardboard sleeve?" Burt asked.

"Photos. That's where I ran off to. I went to CVS to use that photo printer that they have." She opened it up and spread the photos out. She got up and went in the living room and found a frame with a school photo of Kurt in it from when he was 14 or 15. She took it back to the kitchen table.

Burt was looking at the photos when she came back. "It's really real then. I wasn't imagining what you said last night."

"Nope, not imagining," Kurt said.

Carole opened the frame and put a photo of the two of them reciting their vows to each other in the frame in front of the school picture. "I'll get a new frame for it and the others later. I just wanted to get it set out for right now. It's a really good photo of the two of you."

"This is the first time we've seen any of them printed out," Kurt said. "But I'm definitely going to print them and make a collage or something after we move."

Carole nodded. She got up and grabbed some scissors from the kitchen and sat back down to cut the wallet-sized photos apart. She slid two of them across the table. They were of just the two of them, one that Sebastian had taken. "I had four printed. I thought you might like them. I knew you hadn't been able to get out to get any printed."

"Thanks."

"Yes, thank you," Thad said.

They pulled out their wallets and put the photos in, both smiling.

"So tell me about this." Burt said looking at the photos.

Kurt and Thad told them what they had done and where they had gone.

"So you wrote your own vows?"

"We did. I'll show you mine if you want to see them," Kurt said. He pulled the file up where he had written them and slid the phone to where she could reach it.

She read what it said. "That's really beautiful, honey." She slid his phone back.

He just nodded and closed the app.

"So, do you have other questions for us?"

"What are you going to do for money?"

"Get a job, just like I would if I stayed here. With dual citizenship, I can get any job available to any other French person. I don't know what kind of licensing or accreditation rules they have for mechanics there, but I'll find out when I get there. If it is something I have to study for, then I'll do that and in the mean time, I can get a job in a store or wherever is hiring. Sebastian isn't going to charge us rent, but I'm sure will split the utilities and of course, we'll pay for our own food."

"My parents will help us, if we need it. I also have my trust fund, so I won't have any school expenses to worry about."

"Oh, Burt. I just remembered. We get to spend time with Thad's parents next weekend in Chicago."

"Alright."

"They'll be at the competition to see us perform," Thad said. "I'm sure we could go out to lunch or dinner."

"Sure, sure. That would be good. I'd like to talk them. They sat next to Art at the show that morning, but they headed out as soon as it ended."

"Just so you know, there are only three other people that we are going to tell about Karofsky - Thad's parents and Art. Nothing will ever be said to anyone else ever. I am not outing him posthumously. I want nothing more to do with him in any way. I'd like it if the two of you confirmed to me that you are not going to discuss this with anyone else."

"You have my word, Kurt," Carole said. "I won't say a word to anyone."

"Me neither," Burt said.

Just then the front door came barreling open and then slammed.

"Mom?"

"In here, Finn."

Finn came in through the living room. "Kurt?"

"It's good to know you haven't forgotten what I look like," Kurt teased. He stood up and hugged Finn. "It's good to see you."

"You too. I'm surprised you're here."

"We're not here for long. Mom is driving us back in just a little bit. We had the day off and I needed to go through my stuff and pick up what was left."

"You're not coming back?"

"No. When school's over, we're heading back to Thad's family's place and then we'll be off to college."

"Oh, okay. Cool tattoo. When did you get a tattoo?"

"Spring break. Fair warning. It hurts a lot. And it takes like 8 weeks to heal and you have to take care of it every day until it does."

"Got it. Sounds like a pain."

"It's a commitment."

"Finn, why are you home?" Carole asked.

"I forgot my tie and dress shoes."

"Ah, I see."

"You heard about Dave?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I gotta go. Puck's waiting in the driveway." He ran off up the stairs and was back down just a couple of minutes later. And then they heard the front door slam shut.

Kurt took a deep breath and let it out.

"I know it's hard, honey."

"It is. And nothing will make it better. Back to what we were talking about. You asked about money. I'll get a job. Thad's parents will help him until we figure out the rules about him getting a job."

"When are you leaving?"

"Right now our tickets are for June 3rd, but that was when I was going to bring Douglas and attend Finn's graduation. We may leave earlier."

"Who's Douglas?"

"The bodyguard I've been hiring so I could go to the choir competitions."

"Wow."

"Yeah. Karofsky trailed me to Buffalo. He just called in threatening messages when we were in New York City. Too far to drive there and back in one day, I guess."

"What a nightmare," Carole said.

"So, I was going to hire him to come with me to Finn's graduation. No one would have known who he was except Karofsky because he had seen him guarding me. He would have just been some distant relative for the day to everyone else."

"Do you need anything?" Burt asked. "What do you want for graduation?"

"Well, I could use a set of luggage, to be honest."

"Consider it done, Burt said. "Carole can take you to Kohl's on your way out of town and you can pick what you need and take it back with you so you can get packed."

"Thanks, Dad. That will really help. I spent more money that I had planned to with having to hire Douglas for three weekends."

"I bet. And those fancy exams you took aren't cheap. And I know airplane tickets to Europe are expensive as well."

"Yep. But I've managed."

"You have more than managed. You've done great. I'm proud of you, you know that I hope. I'm sorry for...well, for a lot of things. What are you doing in Columbus today anyway?"

"It's the lacrosse qualifications game. I didn't think I'd be able to go, but now I can. Sebastian's team captain and they have a good shot of making the playoffs."

"You like a sport?"

"Lacrosse is cool," Kurt said.

"Kurt is Sebastian's number one cheerleader. He hasn't missed a single home game this season."

"This is the first away game that I can actually go to." Kurt was slightly bouncing in his seat.

Burt laughed. "Who'da thunk. I suppose lacrosse players don't wear stirrup pants."

"Nope, they wear shorts, sort of like basketball shorts."

"I see."

"You could come with us, if you want. The game is at 3:30."

"Sure, why not."

"Well, we're leaving in an hour. We're having lunch with Art. Sebastian is meeting us there. He asked for a half-day excused absence. I'll text Art and tell him that you're both coming if you're serious."

Burt looked at Carole and she nodded.

"Alright then." Kurt took his phone out and let Art know. "We're going swimming after lunch and then to the game. You can bring your suit if you want Carole. I know you like to swim."

"It's kind of chilly for swimming."

"The pool is heated."

"Alright. You've convinced me."

"Actually, if we're going to Kohl's to get suitcases, we need to leave in a few minutes so we won't be late," Thad pointed out.

Everyone got up and got ready to head out.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad loaded the luggage sets they had chosen into Carole's trunk and they headed out to Art's. Thad decided to buy a set for himself since his were not the easy-roll type and there was no way he could carry them the way Kurt had when they had been using them to travel.

They arrived in time for lunch. Sebastian arrived a few minutes after they did.

He walked in and saw Burt and Carole in the front room with his dad, Kurt, and Thad.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hummel, it's good to see you." he said.

"Call us Burt and Carole, please," Carole said.

"Alright. I'll run my stuff upstairs and I'll be right back."

"Come on to the dining room when you come back down," Art said.

Everyone else moved to the dining room. All of the Chinese dishes that Art had ordered were sitting at the end of the table.

"I ordered what was requested, but I have no idea what each person wanted. They're marked though. Please take whichever one is yours and have a seat."

"Could I speak to you for just a minutes?" Kurt asked Art.

Art stepped into the kitchen away from the group. Kurt followed him.

"I just need to tell you that the threat to me and Thad is over. He's dead. I'll explain more later. I also wanted to tell you that Thad and I got married over spring break. My parents know. We haven't told Thad's parents yet because we want to do it in person, which will happen next weekend. We also told my parents about France."

"Wow. Well, I'm glad there's no more threat and congratulations!"

"Thank you. I'll tell you more later tonight."

Art nodded and they went back into the dining room.

Everyone found their own entrée and sat at the places that had plates already set up. They all watched Art plate his food from the container and followed his lead. Sebastian came in and sat next to Kurt. Once everyone had plated their food, Sebastian hopped back up and grabbed all of the empty containers and took them to the kitchen quickly.

Once he was seated, Art started to eat. And so did everyone else. They talked about school, France, lacrosse, their choir competitions and whatever topics popped up. It was the most free Kurt had felt in a long time. He wasn't hiding anything from anyone.

After they finished eating, the three boys cleared the table. Carole went into the downstairs bathroom and changed. Kurt got Thad's suit out so he could change in the downstairs bathroom when Carole came out. Kurt and Sebastian took Kurt and Thad's bags upstairs and changed before they came back down.

"I told your dad about Thad and me. I told him about there not being a threat anymore and that I had told my parents about France. No more secrets."

"Wow. You told your parents you and Thad got married and that you're going to France?"

"I did. It's freeing. I'm not walking a tightrope anymore. All we have left to do is tell Thad's parents that we got married. They're coming to Chicago to watch us perform. We're telling them then. And they're going to spend some time with my parents."

"I'm going to get my dad to come. Then, they can all meet and spend time together like we wanted them to."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Burt and Art sat and talked politics while the other four enjoyed their afternoon in the pool.

About 2:00, everyone got out of the pool and headed into the house to get ready to go to the lacrosse match. Sebastian led Carole to one of the guest bedrooms so she could shower and get ready. Kurt and Thad went to Sebastian's room because that's where they were used to going. Sebastian grabbed his uniform and went to one of the other bathrooms.

While they were waiting for Carole to finish up, Kurt grabbed the luggage they had bought out of Carole's trunk and brought it in the house. Once she was ready, they all headed out. Burt followed Art to the school.

Sebastian took off in a flash with his backpack to head to the pitch to warm up with the team. Everyone else took their time and walked at the pace that Thad could keep up with. Kurt had convinced Burt to wear a navy shirt and Carole put on a red jacket before they had left that morning. Kurt and Thad were wearing their Dalton hoodies. Art had gotten with it and had put on a navy jacket before they left. They five of them sat together in the bleachers.

Burt admitted to Art that he had absolutely no knowledge of how lacrosse was played. Art explained the basic rules before the game started. Less than an hour later it was over and Dalton was victorious. Sebastian was off showering and changing.

"Well, that was exciting. No wonder you like it better than baseball," Burt teased.

"It's not a sport for the faint of heart. That's for sure," Art said. "Do you and Carole have dinner plans? I was going to take the boys back to the Spaghetti Warehouse. We had such a good time there the last time we went."

Carole said, "Give me a minute and I'll let you know." She pulled out her phone and texted Finn to see how he was doing and what his plans were. A few minutes later, she got a response. "Sure. I've never been."

"Oh, Carole," Kurt said with a huge grin on his face. "You'll love it."

"I'm sure I will if it brings a smile like that to your face."

"Excuse me for a second while I call and update our reservation." Art walked off a little away from the crowd so he could hear better. He came back a few minutes later. "All set."

Sebastian made it out of the showers and to the stands in record time. He had his Dalton hoodie on too. He didn't even quite make it to where they were standing before Kurt jumped him with a huge hug.

"Congratulations! Now, you move on to the Quarter Finals, which I can also attend," Kurt smiled.

Carole laughed. "I see you have your own fan club."

"He's the president and only member."

"That's not true. Thad has come to every game he could. The few times he didn't make it, he was in physical therapy."

"But he only comes because you make him." Sebastian egged Kurt on.

"Does not."

Thad was laughing at them. "Stop already."

"Yes, Mom," Sebastian said, rolling his eyes.

Carole laughed even harder. "I've missed you guys. Let's go eat dinner."

"Great idea," Sebastian said. "I'm starving."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After a very enjoyable and delicious dinner, Kurt said his goodbyes to his parents and he and Thad rode back with Art and Sebastian.

On the way back, Kurt explained to him the Karofsky situation so that it would be over with and it could be non-topic for the rest of the weekend.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow, you three?"

"Um, well. I guess we're going to figure that out tonight," Kurt said

"It's all such a last minute idea that I hadn't gotten past planning to go to Sebastian's game. Something fun and something outside are two of the requirements for the weekend. Thad and I have been cooped up inside the school for months. We need some more time outside."

"I don't think Sebastian's been to the zoo. That's outside and I would assume fun."

"That's actually a good idea. Thad and I went last summer when we lived in Westerville in the apartment."

"I haven't been. Let's check the weather and decide whether Saturday or Sunday will be better."

"Let me know what you're doing on Sunday because I don't have any political or work events to be at. Maybe I could go."

"Okay," Sebastian said.

They pulled up in the driveway and into the garage. Everyone got out and walked back up to the house. Art opened the door and let them in. The three guys headed toward the stairs.

"Sebastian."

"Yeah, Dad?"

"You can take your car tomorrow."

"Thanks."

Art nodded.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They all three showered again and got their pajamas on and were lying in Sebastian's bed.

"So?" Kurt asked.

"We can go anywhere since my dad gave me my car back."

"Where do we want to go?" Thad asked.

Kurt was using his phone to search for places. "How about this place? Boonshoft."

They both looked it up.

"It's just an hour from here. Animals, sea creatures, planetarium, a treehouse..." Thad said.

"Let's do it," Sebastian said. "If it's small and we get through it quickly, we can do something else."

"There's a market in the morning. Let's do that first, then go to the museum," Kurt suggested.

"Then we have a plan," Thad said.

"I'll text my dad that we're going to the zoo on Sunday."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, they ate breakfast with Art and then headed to Dayton. They explored the market looking through lots of booths. Sebastian caught Kurt looking at a particular brooch several times, picking it up and then putting it down. He pretended that he had to go to the bathroom.

"Hey, go ahead. I'll catch up in a minute. I'm going to run to the restroom."

Kurt and Thad kept on walking and looking around down the same aisle. Sebastian walked past the booth and turned the corner and checked back after a minute to make sure that Kurt wasn't looking. He went back into the booth and bought the brooch. He went back out of the booth and waited a couple of minutes and then walked up the aisle quickly and caught up with them.

"Did I miss anything?"

"Not really, unless you're secretly collecting dolls or doll clothes."

"Nope."

"Then, you're good."

The worked their way through the rest of the market, stopping in the food area on their way out. Each of them ordered a different type of homemade bread slice and shared them.

"They're all good, but I think I like the carrot cake the best," Kurt said.

"Me too, but the banana bread is a close second," Sebastian said.

"I like the banana bread the best, but it's not as good as Kurt's," Thad said.

"None of them are as good as the stuff Kurt makes," Sebastian said.

"I see. I've figured you out now. You've invited us to live with you so I will cook for you."

Sebastian put his hand over his heart melodramatically. "Wasn't it just a few days ago you told me you loved me and now you mortally wound me with your accusations of trickery."

Thad laughed.

Kurt rolled his eyes. He got up and collected their trash and tossed it. "Let's go before he starts quoting Shakespeare and draws a crowd or a security officer."

Thad laughed harder.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian picked his phone up when it pinged. "Dad says we're going to IHOP for breakfast at 8:30. The zoo opens at 10:00."

"Mmm. Pancakes," Kurt said dreamily.

"Belgian dark chocolate mousse pancakes? Mexican tres leches pancakes? New York cheesecake pancakes?" Thad asked.

"I remember. You ordered the cheesecake ones in Pittsburgh," Sebastian said.

"Mmm hmm. And they were tasty. You liked them," Kurt said.

"We should do the same thing we did then. Order three different kinds and share them," Thad suggested.

"Sounds like a plan. I wonder if all of them have the same choices," Kurt said.

"We'll find out tomorrow," Sebastian responded.

"The museum was fun. I liked the tide pool," Kurt said.

"Me too," Thad said.

"This whole weekend has been a blast so far," Sebastian said. "We should sleep though. Dad is a morning person and will definitely be ready to leave by 8:15."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Stuffed full of pancakes and ready to see the animals, the four of them entered the zoo.

"I haven't been here since you were three. It sure has changed a lot. It seems like it's about twice as big. They added a water park and rides too."

"It's really nice. Come on," Kurt said.

They took off and went through the zoo enjoying each exhibit.

The last time they had been there, Thad had been in a wheelchair. "The view is better standing up," he said.

Kurt squeezed his hand.

By noon, they had made it through not quite half of the park. They stopped to rest for a while and Art got them all drinks. They sat along the edge of the fountain.

"Let's ride the carousel this time," Thad said.

"Yes! It's so cool. I read about it. It's really old. I can't remember how old now. But it's been completely restored and it's really beautiful now," Kurt said. "It's on the other side of the underpass over there." Kurt pointed.

Once they had rested a bit they got back up and headed through the underpass. They watched the flamingos, and then headed over to watch the fish and see the manatees.

They took pictures of each other riding the carousel and had a great time.

"You're right, it really is beautiful," Art said.

They walked through the rest of the exhibits over the next couple of hours. Kurt got a few people to take pictures of all four of them in a few spots throughout the zoo. He was definitely going to print the best one and give to Art.

They headed back to the house and loaded up their stuff in Sebastian's car. Art hugged each of them as they headed out the door. "I'm so glad all of you came for the weekend. I'll see you in Chicago next weekend."

"Thanks for having us," Kurt said.

"We had a great time," Thad added.

"See ya, Dad!"

The three of them got in Sebastian's car and headed back to campus.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian stopped by the front entrance and Kurt and Thad emptied the luggage out of his trunk. Thad stayed with it while Kurt rode with him back to the parking lot.

"I had a great time this weekend. It was so much fun."

"I'm glad. I know I've still been going to see him on the weekends some times, but he really likes the two of you and he liked it when we all came earlier in the year."

"Well, he's a lot more fun to be around than I had expected him to be after the first luncheon we went to with you at the beginning of the school year."

"That was the most boring event I have ever been to. There wasn't anywhere to go but up from there," he laughed. "But you're right. This year has been completely different from what I had expected. All because of you."

Kurt hip checked him. "I'm glad we're friends."

"Me too."

By then, they were heading up to the front steps. Thad was waiting for them. Sebastian and Kurt each grabbed a set of the luggage and headed up the stairs into he building.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad got to work immediately on their papers. They had four papers due the coming week. They had done all of the research and completed their outlines, but they need to get writing. Finals week was basically a free week for them because they had taken the exam portions of their finals the week before the AP exams as a way to prepare for the exams themselves. Sebastian didn't have it so easy. He'd have final exams in all of his classes except for French.

They headed down to dinner together at the very last moment and ate quickly. They went right back to writing as soon as they got back upstairs.

Kurt got a text from Carole. Thad looked up.

"Dad and Carole are going to fly to Chicago instead because they need to head to DC afterwards. Flying is actually a really good idea. Your parents are going to be there a few days before us. What if we see if there are any last minute cheap flights out Thursday afternoon? That way we could spend the evening with them and tell them about us getting married before we go the aquarium with everyone the next day."

"Sure. If you find cheap flights, I'll call my parents and ask them about it. You're right though. I'd rather tell them in a calm relaxed way than to try to squeeze it in somewhere in the aquarium."

A little bit later, Kurt showed him the flights.

"That looks good, let me call them." He went in the bathroom and shut the door so Kurt could keep working. He went back into their room when he finished. He waited for Kurt to look up.

"Go ahead and get the tickets. Use my card to buy both of them. My parents said so."

"Alright." Kurt took Thad's card from him and put the tickets on it. He texted the confirmation to Ellen.

"We'll get in a little later than I would like, but we have to stay through rehearsal. We can't just bail on that."

"It's fine. They have to work that day and probably won't be done until right before we get there. Let's work for another hour and then get ready for bed. We can work on our papers more tomorrow."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad managed to get all of their papers completed and turned in on time.

Wednesday afternoon was the lacrosse Regional Quarterfinals. Sebastian managed to convince the coach to let him drive to the game so that he could take Thad and Kurt.

Thad and Kurt went to find Art in the stands and sat with him.

"Good afternoon, boys."

"Good afternoon, Art," Kurt said.

Thad just waved and smiled as he sat down on the other side of Kurt.

"Before the game starts, I wanted to talk to you, Kurt."

"Alright. You sound really serious. Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no. Not at all. I'm just not quite sure how to say this. I know you've mentioned several times over the course of the year that you wanted me to bill you for the times I've come to the school."

Kurt nodded.

"I'm not going to do that. You don't owe me anything, Kurt."

"There's no way that's true."

"Listen. Sebastian was on the wrong path in Paris. He was an angry young man and he didn't have any real friends. Solange was worried about him. We both thought that maybe having him here and getting him in a different environment might help. But while that might have helped some, it was making friends with you and Thad that made him change his direction. And you two changed my life as well. So many preconceived ideas were completely decimated by the way you live your life. There isn't enough money in the world to buy real friends, which is what the two of you are to Sebastian. Friends help each other. I'm glad you're moving in with him in Paris."

"I'm not sure what to say other than thank you. Really. Thank you."

"Kurt, you're welcome. I know you've not had a lot of experience dealing with decent people. But thank you is enough."

Kurt tried to focus on finding Sebastian on the field and blinked back the tears, even though a few escaped.

The game started and Sebastian was the leaded scorer for Dalton. They won again.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thursday's Warbler rehearsal took place before lunch so that everyone would have time to study since the two days they had off were supposed to be reading days for their upcoming final exams. Kurt and Thad had packed for their trip that morning. As soon as rehearsal ended, they went straight to their room and changed into shorts and their National Zoo hoodies. They added their slacks, ties, and blazers to the top of the clothes in their suitcase and closed it. Kurt carried it downstairs. Their town car arrived just a few minutes later.

They arrived in Chicago a little after 6:00. They took a taxi to the hotel where Ellen and Donovan were staying.

Ellen and Donovan were waiting in the lobby for them when they arrived. They were pulled into hugs and then swapped and were hugged again.

"You both look great," Ellen said. "We were really surprised that you could come early with everything that has gone on."

"That's actually why we came early," Kurt said.

"Let's get you two checked in and then head up to our room. We're going to order in dinner at some point. But let's get your keycards first."

They got in line, got checked in, got their cards, and headed to the elevator. They stopped by Kurt and Thad's room first so they could put their suitcase in their room. Kurt quickly opened it up and removed their blazers and hung them up. They went from there to the elevator up to Ellen and Donovan's room a few floors up.

They all sat down. Kurt and Thad sat on the couch with Ellen. Donovan pushed the desk chair over near the couch and sat down.

Kurt took a deep breath and spent the next 30 minutes explaining everything that had happened.

"Wow. That's quite a tale. Sad, really sad. But I'm glad it's over," Ellen said.

"That's not the ending anyone would want for a young man, but what he did to you was wrong, so wrong. I'm glad he won't be tormenting you anymore," Donovan said.

Kurt let Thad take the lead on telling them the next part of their news. Thad told them about their trip to Buffalo.

Ellen smiled through the whole story. "I knew it. I just knew it." She laughed. "I didn't even tell you our story when you asked at Christmas."

"So tell me," Kurt said, his eyes bright with curiosity.

"Not until I hug both of you. You're not wearing rings?"

They both pulled their necklaces out and put their rings on so she could see. They stood up so they could hug her like she had requested.

"I'm so happy for the two of you," she said as she moved from hugging Kurt to hugging Thad. After she hugged them, she sat back down. "The chains are a nice idea. You haven't told anyone at school, I take it."

"Headmaster Carlson knows. No one else knows."

"Okay, so now tell me," Kurt said with anticipation.

"We met in high school. I went on an overseas study program my junior year of high school. We had a few classes together and we hit it off right away. We did the friendly dating type dates for quite a while. I was convinced that I shouldn't let myself fall for a Brit." She looked at Donovan and smiled.

She continued. "I was going back home at the end of the school year and I had never dated anyone before. But our dates became more couple-y and I really liked him. We had started officially dating by October. When the school year ended, I stayed through the summer at a hostel instead of going home. Eventually I had to come back. I crammed the remaining required courses I needed into a single semester and graduated early and headed back to England. I had turned 18. I got a Passport and applied for a student Visa. I applied to the same colleges that Donovan did. I flew back to England. I found a family that rented rooms and I stayed with them until Donovan graduated."

"I asked her to marry me that summer as soon as I graduated, and we eloped."

"Were your parents upset?"

"They knew when I left that I wouldn't be coming back. I had put so much effort into going back there as quickly as possible and they knew I was going to college there. I don't know if my mom would have preferred me to do the big church wedding thing or not. She's not really religious, so I don't think so. She never said anything negative to me about it. She's always just been happy that I found a 'good man' in her words, which she had not the first time around. She had married a family friend. It was pretty much an arranged marriage without the contract. His father and my grandpa's brother were business partners. He was okay until he started drinking according to my mom, but she never loved him. So, back to your question, she wasn't upset. She just wanted me to be happy. That man I mentioned wasn't my dad. She divorced her first husband and eventually remarried, this second time to a nice man - my dad."

"So the two of you met in school and eloped..." Kurt smiled. "No wonder Thad said you wouldn't be upset."

"We're not upset, Kurt," Donovan said. "We knew how much you two loved each other. I'm happy for the two of you."

"Thanks," Kurt said. "We have one last thing to tell you." Kurt pulled his sleeve up and showed them.

"Oh, wow. That's really nice, sweetie. I know you never let anyone see the scars on your arm. You always had it covered, but it's like the scarring is just gone. Whoever did that was really good."

"It was a guy in Miami. I researched people online. He had really good reviews."

"I hope you left him a good one too. He did a good job," Donovan said.

Kurt nodded. "I did."

Thad took a deep breath as quietly as he could and pulled his sleeve up as well.

"Oh my!" Ellen said. "That's amazingly detailed. Someone has a very steady hand."

"She did. She works in the same studio as the guy who did Kurt's. We got them done at the same time after we got to Miami the day we got married."

"She did a really nice job," Donovan said.

"No more surprises?" Ellen asked.

"Three seems like plenty," Kurt teased.

"I suppose you're right. We were planning on ordering Indian food. Is that okay?"

"Sure," Kurt said.

Thad nodded.

Donovan pulled up the restaurant they had ordered from the night before and let Kurt and Thad choose what they wanted and then called their order in.

"Thanks for flying us here. You didn't have to do that. I could have paid for my ticket," Kurt said.

"Oh, sweetie, I know. I think you're going to have to work on letting us do things for you. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable. You're family. You have been for a long time. Donovan and I have plenty of money. We can't take it with us at the end and when we leave it behind, it will be yours and Thad's anyway. You might as well let us spend it now while we can enjoy doing it."

Kurt laughed. "Well, when you put that way, I can see your point. I'm just not used to it. I'll work on it."

"Good. We love both of you and we want to spend time with you whenever we can and if that means two last-minute plane tickets and a hotel room, then we're fine with that." She got up and hugged him again. "I'm so glad the two of you have each other." She hugged Thad again too.

"Oh, I guess we do have one more tiny thing." Kurt pulled out his wallet and took out two photos and handed one to each of them.

"These are lovely. Thank you. I'm assuming there are more that we can look at, right?"

"Yes. I can pull them up on my phone or on your laptop if you want to see them larger."

"Definitely on my laptop. That way I can save them." She got it out. Donovan moved to the couch. She took the desk chair and set her laptop up on the desk. She got up once she had put in the password. Kurt sat down and logged in and showed them all of the photos.

"Can you just make a file and download all of them for me?"

"Sure."

Once they were downloaded, Kurt logged out and shut the computer down.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Donovan and Kurt went down to meet the delivery driver and took the food back up to the room. Their room was a suite with a small table and chairs. Donovan pulled the desk chair up. Kurt and Thad shared a chair and Ellen sat in the other one. They talked about school and the competition and their sightseeing plans.

"Just so you know, we went to Lima last week and we told my parents everything. So, when you meet them tomorrow, you don't have to mind your p's and q's to avoid telling them things that I had kept secret."

"That has to be a relief. I know you didn't like keeping things from them."

"I really didn't. I'm not a dishonest person and I'm not a liar. That's why I had to just cut myself off for the most part. I quit talking to Carole altogether because she can read me too well and I knew she would ask questions that I couldn't answer truthfully. My dad is not good at reading me, so he was easier to refocus. I called him weekly and talked to him briefly."

"So, we're all going to the aquarium tomorrow morning. You're parents are flying in and meeting us there? Or should we get a car and pick them up?"

"Honestly, I didn't ask them any details. Thad and I had to turn in four papers in the last three days and last night we spent doing laundry and then we packed this morning before Warblers rehearsal. Let me call Carole."

"It's fine, sweetie. Finish eating first."

"So, do you have a lot of exams next week?" Donovan asked.

Thad answered. "We actually had our exams a couple of weeks ago, so we don't have any next week. But most everyone else has at least a few. I think Sebastian has 5. He's in the IB program."

"He's got so many exams and extra long lacrosse practices because the Regionals semifinal game is Friday evening. If they win, then they play in the Regionals finals Saturday evening."

"He's going to be busy," Ellen said.

Kurt and Thad nodded their heads.

Kurt collected up their trash and offered to take it to the larger trash bin in the hall. He called Carole on his way back. He paused outside the room to finish his conversation. He knocked lightly and Ellen let him back in.

"Carole said that Art is flying with them and they have a car lined up to bring them to the aquarium when it opens."

"Which is when?" Donovan asked.

"Um. I'm not sure. 9:00 or 10:00 I think. Let me look." Kurt pulled the website up to check the hours. "9:00 to 5:00."

"Alright then," Ellen said. "We were going to go down for a swim. Would you two like to join us?"

Kurt looked at Thad, who nodded and answered, "Okay. We'll go change and meet you wherever the pool is."

"Thank you for dinner," Kurt said as they were leaving.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

By 9:30, Kurt and Thad were back in their room getting ready to shower. Kurt rinsed their suits and towel dried them and hung them on hangers to finish drying as much as possible since they had to repack in the morning to change hotels.

They had ended up realizing that the car service would need to stop by the hotel where the Warblers were staying on the way to the aquarium. Otherwise, they'd have their luggage with them.

Ellen and Donovan had rented them a room with a jacuzzi, which was next on Kurt's agenda. He had helped Thad get in before he started on their swim trunks. Kurt climbed in and sat down next to Thad.

"This is nice. I've never been in one before," Kurt said.

"It's relaxing." Thad lifted his arm up and wrapped it around Kurt's shoulders, but within a couple of minutes, Kurt moved.

"I bet I can sit in your lap in here without hurting you."

Thad eyes brightened. "Let's see."

Kurt moved to straddle Thad's legs and sat down. They wiggled around and repositioned themselves until they got comfortable.

Kurt laughed. "Okay, maybe not in your lap, but this is nice." He kissed up Thad's neck.

"Mmm hmm." Thad turned his neck a little to give Kurt better access. He ran his hands along Kurt's sides. Eventually moving them up and putting them on each side of Kurt's face and running his thumbs down Kurt's cheeks and gently guiding him into passionate kissing until they had to break for air and then right back to more kissing. Eventually, Thad sad, "Can we take this to the bed?"

"Yes, definitely yes." Kurt kissed him once more and got out and got them towels.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Thad was concentrating on getting his breathing under control, while still kissing Kurt. "You just keep getting better at this."

"Practice makes perfect, they say," he said between kisses. "And when the practice is so pleasurable..."

"I agree. We should practice more," he said running his hands through Kurt's hair.

"More, as in again?"

"Definitely. Absolutely. As you can tell, I'm ready when you are..." he kissed down Kurt's neck.

Kurt reached over to get more supplies.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

An hour later they were back in bed from the shower, and Thad was lying on Kurt's chest with his legs intertwined with Kurt's. He was running his hand gently up and down Kurt's arm alternating with his chest down to his thigh. He stopped caressing Kurt and used his hand to turn Kurt's face enough that he could push up a little and kiss him. He moved a little so he could maintain their contact and he gently licked Kurt's upper lip and the kiss deepened. This time, not to arouse, but a deep passionate kiss of utter contentment and connection. A kiss of love and commitment. Kurt turned on his side and they wrapped themselves completely together and held each other close. And as much as they both loved hearing the words, none were needed to know how in love they were.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Dressed in their unofficial sightseeing uniforms, dark wash jeans, long-sleeved white button ups, red school vests and their school shoes, they met up with Ellen and Donovan in the lobby. They were surprised to find that they had their luggage with them. They left all of the luggage at the desk and headed into the breakfast area to eat before they headed out.

Ellen offered, "We decided to switch hotels for the next few nights. We're not working again until Monday, so we're going to stay in the same hotel as the Warblers and your parents."

"Okay. They're staying through Sunday afternoon and then flying to DC."

They didn't talk much while they ate because they had to be ready when the driver arrived. They finished up quickly. Kurt and Donovan retrieved their luggage while Ellen paid for their rooms. The four of them went out front and the car pulled up. They rode to the new hotel. Kurt and Donovan grabbed their luggage and put in holding for the day since it was too early to check in.

From there they went straight to the aquarium. They arrived right after it opened and walked inside to find Burt, Carole, and Art waiting for them.

"The Warblers should be here soon. Sebastian texted me about 10 minutes ago that they were just about here."

"Well, I'll go ahead with official introductions then," Kurt said. "These are Thad's parents, Ellen and Donavan Harwood. These are my parents Burt and Carole Hummel. And this Sebastian's dad, Arthur Smythe."

They shook hands with each other.

Carole was the first to speak, "It's so nice to finally really meet you. Kurt has said such nice things about the two of you. We can't thank you enough for giving him a safe place to spend all of their school holidays."

"It was no trouble. Kurt's a sweetheart. We love having him around," Ellen said.

"He's very useful," Donovan added teasing Kurt. "He's a good cook and the place always looks better when they've been there than it does after the cleaning lady has."

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Dad," Thad said in that "how dare you" tone.

"He knows we love him Thad," Donovan countered. "Plus, I'm sure you enjoy his cooking as much as the rest of us do."

"Well, I'm feeling left out, Kurt," Art teased. "You've never cooked for me."

"Oh, well, then you are missing out," Carole said.

Burt nodded and added, "I've tried taking lessons from him and I still can't manage to make a box of macaroni and cheese come out tasting right. He goes in there and whips up something in less time than I spent and his looks like it should be on Julia Child's counter. It's utterly frustrating, but very delicious," he said laughing.

Just then, Kurt turned just in time to prevent himself from being tackled by Jeff. "You're here, you're here!"

"Yes, Jeff. I'm here, as are you. Where's everyone else?"

"Meh. They're slowpokes. I ran up from the parking lot."

"Jeff Sterling, my parents." Kurt pointed. "And Thad's parents." He pointed again. "You've met Sebastian's dad."

"Mr. and Mrs. Hummel, Mr. and Mrs. Harwood, it's nice to meet all of you. Nice to see you again, Mr. Smythe," Jeff said as he nodded to them, refraining from shaking hands since there were so many people.

By then the rest of the group started coming in the building. When they saw Jeff with Kurt and Thad, they all congregated with them.

Mr. Browning and Mr. Davis headed to the ticket window.

"We better head over there with them," Ellen said. The five parents followed the teachers.

"We missed you on the ride over," Sebastian said.

Kurt scooted closer and turned his back to the group and whispered, "We told Thad's parents everything last night, but we still aren't telling anyone in the group."

"You'd better move the rings to your necklaces then," Sebastian said looking down.

Kurt slipped his ring off and put it on his chain as inconspicuously as he could. He moved to stand next to Thad and took his left hand and held it rather than interlacing their fingers like he normally did. He ran his thumb over the ring. Thad eyes flashed briefly and he nodded. He slipped his hand out of Kurt's and directly into his pocket.

He walked off to look at a photo on the wall, using it as a way to get the ring on his necklace without anyone seeing him. Kurt followed him over and so did Sebastian. The three of them walked along the wall to look at the next photo and the next. They finished looking at the photos and went back over to the group.

The teachers and their parents came back a few minutes later. They distributed the tickets and they broke up into groups. Jeff and Nick started to follow Kurt, Thad and Sebastian, but then Mr. Browning called them to join his group, which they did reluctantly.

Kurt grabbed Jeff's hand and stopped him briefly. He whispered, "They officially met each other about five minutes before you met them."

Jeff nodded and smiled and headed over to Nick. He saw Jeff tell Nick, who waved and smiled at him. Kurt waved back. He hurried to catch up to Thad and took his hand.

All of them loved the aquarium. They had a great time together. Kurt was convinced that Carole must have given his dad one heck of a pep talk on the plane and in the car that morning. He was a changed man from the "I don't want to share my son" person he had been for more than a year. It was a pleasant change. He felt like his real dad was back - the one that loved and supported him in his uniqueness.

Sebastian managed to get several good shots of the Hummel/Harwood clan. Kurt took a few of Sebastian with his dad as well.

At the end of the day when they were leaving, Kurt said, "I think this might be one of the few places I would enjoy being a window cleaner or the person who vacuums or sweeps the floor. It's so cool in there, that even those jobs would be cool."

"You're right, Kurt," Carole agreed. "And I hate cleaning windows." She laughed.

They all waited in the lobby for everyone else to arrive.

Kurt said, "I'll be right back." He ran off toward the gift shop. He was back in less than five minutes with a small bag. "I almost forgot."

Thad and Sebastian nodded.

Carole and Ellen looked at him tilting their heads slightly.

"I started buying a refrigerator magnet at the different places we've gone. Once we're in our own place, I'm going to put them all on the fridge.

"That's a fun idea," Ellen said.

"I thought so. I think we have about 10 now. One of the groups is in the gift shop, so it shouldn't be too much longer. I'm not sure where Mr. Davis's group is."

Five minutes later, 15 vest-clad Warblers and the two teachers were all in the lobby. They headed out to the parking lot. There was a limousine waiting in the parking lot.

"Come on," Art motioned. "It was less than the two separate cars."

The eight of them walked toward the limo.

"I thought we were riding back with the group on the minibus," Kurt said.

"We were going to," Art said. "But they hit traffic on the skyway and didn't have time to take the luggage to the hotel before they came here. There wasn't room for five extra people on the minibus."

Kurt pushed Sebastian forward. "I've never been in a limo. Stop asking why and let's get in," Kurt said.

Sebastian laughed at him. "Well go on then, Mr. Impatient." Sebastian stepped aside and let Kurt get in first.

Kurt climbed in first and then helped Thad get in. They scooted to the far edge of the seat so everyone else could get in. Burt and Carole sat with them. The other four sat in the seat across from them.

"This is so cool!" Kurt exclaimed. "I feel like a movie star."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The eight of them had dinner in the formal hotel restaurant, while he rest of the Warblers ate in the bar and grill.

After they finished eating they got in line to check in. While they were in line, Kurt heard his name called and before he got completely turned he was pulled into a hug by his other crazy blond friend. "Sam!"

Sam picked hugged him tight and spun him around. "Put me down you brute."

"Brute, huh?" he laughed. "Are the Warblers staying here too?"

"We are," Kurt answered. "I'll tell you my room number as soon as I get it."

"319," Thad said, handing Kurt his keycard.

"Got it. I'll come by later." He whispered, "I'll sneak off." Sam went back to stand with the rest of the New Directions.

By then, the Warblers were heading into the lobby. Kurt and Thad handed Nick, Jeff, and Sebastian the other keycards to their room. They got in line to retrieve their luggage and everyone dispersed to their rooms. They were reassembling to rehearse in one of the small conference rooms at 8:30, so they were quick.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sam knocked on the door at 10:00. Kurt let him in. Sam hugged him again as soon as he was inside.

"How did you escape?'

"Oh, the guys are in two rooms and I told them I had a headache and came here instead of the room no one is in right now."

Kurt laughed. "Nick and Jeff will be back at some point."

Sam jumped right in. "So, you're free." Sam plopped down on the bed next to Sebastian.

"Yep and it's amazing."

"I knew it was him. I knew you couldn't say anything or you would have told me, but I knew it was him. That's why I went to Buffalo. I mean, yeah, I wanted to see Niagara Falls, but I gave up my Friday and Saturday shift to make sure he couldn't try anything when they were there. Not that I minded. I mean you don't owe me anything. If anything I owe you more than I could ever repay."

"You don't owe me anything, Sam. We're friends."

"Well, you have single-handedly helped me graduate. I got into OSU Lima. I'm going to get all of the basics out of the way with the smaller classes where I can get more help. I'm hoping to get into the art program in Columbus. We'll see I guess."

"Starting at OSU Lima is a good idea. The credits will automatically transfer and you can keep the job you have and live at home. Saves money."

"That's the idea."

"You might even be able to stay there the second year and just drive to Columbus for the art classes like two days a week or something and still live at home."

"I'll see. So, what's with the meet the parents that was going on downstairs?"

"Well, my parents and Thad's parents had never really met. And Thad's parents had never spent any time with Sebastian's dad either."

"And well, we had something to tell Thad's parents."

"Is it a secret?"

"Well, even if it were, I know you can keep secrets. No one found out about you and the three of us and Skype. No one knew you came visit before we ended up stuck indoors."

"Well, Sebastian giving me one of his blazers helped with that. I just parked on the edge of campus and walked into the garden area like I belonged."

"I sacrificed it for a good cause," Sebastian said.

"I got a B on that paper you helped me with," Sam said.

"Good deal," Sebastian responded.

"I'm sorry to say that no matter how good Thad and Kurt were at explaining Algebra 2, I still hate math."

They all laughed.

"You passed the state tests. You're passing Algebra 2. Hopefully, there's not much more math in your future."

"Does Skype work in France? I will definitely need help if I have to take an even harder math class. What a depressing thought, just when I was feeling so cheerful."

Sebastian pushed him over. "Of course, Skype works in France."

Sam sat back up. "Hey now," he laughed. "How would I know what works in France. I've heard that certain videos on YouTube can't be seen in other countries."

"Well, that's true. But Skype works. You should come visit us in France," Sebastian said.

"Well, get the lottery to let me win and I'll buy a ticket."

"We'll have to work on that one," Kurt laughed. "I'm pretty much broke or I'd buy you one myself. Bodyguards and AP exams and I bought my ticket a while back."

"It's been hard with everyone being upset and me being glad he's gone," Sam said.

"I bet. I told my dad I couldn't come to graduation because I was afraid it would be all 'in honor of our missing beloved reformed bully whose tragic death we commemorate today'."

"No, no. It's not going to be like that at all. The only thing that's happening is that his name is in the graduation program marked deceased. I went to Miss Pillsbury and told her that I was opposed to someone who had caused so many problems being the focus of graduation. There was already a public ceremony and a private one. Our graduation did not need to be another venue to 'celebrate' his life."

"So, there's not going to be a big speech about him at all?"

"Nope. Mike is our valedictorian and he's not talking about it. He never really bought into the 'new improved' version. But he never actively opposed him. You know Mike. He's more a live and let live guy. As long as Karofsky wasn't actively bullying anyone, Mike just ignored him. So, he doesn't know anything. He just wouldn't make him the focus of the graduation speech."

"Well, then, if you can absolutely find out that no one will be speaking about him, I will reconsider attending. I'm not sure, but I will think about it. I'd like to see you graduate."

"Well, how about this? I'll get Stevie to record it and send you the video."

Kurt smiled. "He'd like that wouldn't he? Being given such a mature job."

"He would. You are super good at redirecting. You've mastered it like an art form. But I still want to know the secret."

Kurt looked at Thad and then Sebastian and took a deep breath.

"Well, there's three and you already know one."

"Uh huh. Deflecting. Nice try. What are the other two?"

Kurt pulled his sleeve up.

"Oh, wow. Nice tattoo."

"Thanks."

Thad pulled is sleeve up next.

"Oh, now I like that too. Very different. Very intricate."

"Thanks," Thad said.

"And the third secret?"

"What makes you think that my tattoo and Thad's tattoo were part of the same secret?"

"Because Sebastian still looks like there's something else that you haven't said yet."

"Sebastian!"

"Just tell him and stop teasing him. He's like an honorary musketeer."

"I could be the fourth musketeer," Sam said.

Kurt laughed.

"What?" Sam asked.

Thad answered, "Sebastian's boyfriend-to-be is the fourth musketeer according to Kurt."

"Oh." Sam looked him up and down and winked at Sebastian. "That might work."

"What?!" Kurt asked.

"Gotcha! Now, tell me you're secret."

"Are you bi?"

"I don't know. Sebastian's hot and single." He winked at him again where Kurt couldn't see. He scooted closer to him.

"Sam?"

"What? You're good looking, but taken."

Sebastian laughed.

"I feel like I'm in the twilight zone. The secret is that Thad and I got married over spring break."

"Seriously? Congratulations!" Sam stood up and hugged Kurt and then Thad. He sat back down next to Sebastian.

Kurt took Thad's hand and pulled him to standing. "Let's go up and tell our parents good night."

"Um, okay."

"We'll see you tomorrow, Sam. We'll be back in about a half hour."

Kurt texted Jeff and Nick to not come back until after 11:30.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad came back at 11:00. Sam and Sebastian were sitting on the bed watching a movie, both with wet hair.

Kurt smiled. "Thad and I are going to shower." He grabbed their pajamas and headed into the bathroom where Thad was waiting for him. He shut the door. They undressed.

"There are already two wet towels," Thad said.

"Mmm hmm and there are two teen boys in a bed in there with wet hair."

They showered quickly and spent the rest of their time in shower enjoying themselves. They got out and put their pajamas on. Kurt did all of his moisturizing, some of which he had convinced Thad to try. Thad always put the stuff on his tattoo to keep it moisturized every night. They went back out into the room to find that Sebastian was alone.

"So?" Kurt asked.

"I don't kiss and tell," Sebastian said.

"So, there was kissing?"

"I think there was more than kissing," Thad said waggling his eyebrows.

"Okay, so look. It's not like I've never hooked up with a guy. You knew that."

"Yeah. We're not going to think badly of you. I'm just a little surprised because I thought Sam was straight. He's dated girls."

"Well, when you left, who else was there for him to date that was a guy? Plus, who in their right mind would come out in that school? It wouldn't have been safe."

"You're right. So?" Kurt asked again.

"Have you seen his abs?"

"Yeah. Locker room at McKinley."

"Oh, God. He's like a model."

"He was the quarterback when I left."

"Well, he's built. That's for sure." Sebastian was smiling.

"I see," Kurt laughed.

"And his bi-curiosity?"

"Satisfied," Sebastian said smugly.

"Uh huh." Thad laughed.

Just then, Nick and Jeff got back.

"Hey, dude. You're in our bed," Jeff said.

"Fine, fine. You can have your bed." He got up and sat on Kurt and Thad's bed. "Kurt and Thad love me. They won't throw me out. Plus, now that you're back I can unfold the foldout bed." He got up and opened it and sat down.

"We need to get to sleep," Nick said. "We have to be downstairs at 8:00 for breakfast."

Jeff headed into the bathroom to change. Nick changed next, and when he got back, he turned the light off and got in bed.


	26. Chapter 26

There were 30 groups - 15 to perform between noon and 3:00 and 15 to perform between 5:00 and 8:00. The Warblers had been assigned to sing 10th. The New Directions would be 20th.

It was a huge auditorium with balconies and a lot more people than the a cappella Nationals. It made sense because some of the show choirs had 50-member teams. But still such a large audience made it more nerve-wracking.

The Warblers warmed up their voices and stretched. They waited in the wings during the group before them. They had been fitted with headset mics during their sound check that morning since they were such a small group. Richard was using a standard mic.

Their mics were on and they were ready to go. The curtain closed. They entered as the other group exited off the other side. The curtain reopened and the vocalizations started. Sebastian stepped forward and sang out strong and clear, "Skies are crying, I am watching...". They transitioned immediately into "Da da da da", followed by Kurt singing, "Grew up in a small town, and when the rain would fall down...I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly...".

The 6 featured singers ended "Breakaway" at the front so they were in position for "Pocketful of Sunshine".

Richard and Thad stood in the 2nd and 5th positions in their front row of six seniors. Sebastian and Nick danced around Richard, while Kurt and Jeff danced around Thad, giving them a balanced look and keeping it from being obvious that Thad couldn't dance.

Sebastian sang lead on the verses alternating with Kurt on lead during the choruses. They alternated lines on the bridge. They sang their separate parts simultaneously as the song came to an end. They skipped the small soft section that the original song ended with.

Their performance was met with thunderous applause. They bowed in unison and waited for the curtain to close to exit and the mics to be turned off.

"We killed it," Sebastian said as he pulled Kurt into a hug.

"We did. I don't think any of us could have done any better. I still don't expect to win, but we gave it our best. I gave Sam my phone to record it so we can send it to your mom."

"Thank you!"

"Of course."

They headed off the stage and back up to the balcony where the choirs that wanted to watch could sit. Sam slipped in and gave Kurt his phone back.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt thought about how many people would want to eat in the two-hour break and he ordered 3 large pizzas to be delivered to the hotel at 3:10. Everyone else headed up to their room, along with Sam, whom Kurt had texted right after he ordered the pizzas. Nick and Jeff bought drinks from the vending machine on the way up. Kurt brought the pizzas up and they finished them off rather quickly.

"What time do you have to meet the New Directions again?" Kurt asked.

"Oh, not until the show starts again at 5:00. There's nowhere to rehearse or anything until after it starts and we're 5th in after it starts." Kurt saw Sebastian smile. "I told Mr. Schue I was going with you and he was fine with it. You guys killed it by the way."

"Thanks," all of them said.

"Kurt would have never gotten lead in New Directions. But he is so good."

Kurt blushed.

"It's true. This year has been the Blainchel show."

"Not a Blaine fan, I take it," Jeff said.

"Not really. He's an okay singer, but he's a spotlight hog just like Rachel."

"I thought you and the blond girl sounded really good together last year at Sectionals," Nick said.

"Oh, Quinn. Yeah. Thanks. That was the first and only time I had a lead. Quinn too. Well, she's got like two or three lines today. Santana and Mercedes are leads on the all-girls song. Rachel's singing a big ballad solo with just a few back-up singers. Then we have one group number that is Blaine and Rachel, with a few lines by other people."

"So, the rest of the seniors aren't even featured?" Nick asked.

"Our soloists had one song each and then all of the seniors were featured on our last song," Jeff said.

"Nah. There are a lot of seniors - me, Puck, Finn, Mike, Brittany, Quinn, Santana, Mercedes, Blaine and Rachel. Yeah. I guess there's just Joe, Rory, Tina, and Sugar that aren't seniors. Oh, plus the Cheerios whose names I don't know that are singing in the girls number."

"Wow, with only four returning members, that will be tough to be competitive next year," Sebastian said.

"Oh, there's only three and that's if Joe comes back. It's the first year he's gone to school. He missed a lot of days. I think he may not come back and Rory is an exchange student. Sugar can't sing. So, that mostly leaves Tina."

"Poor Tina. She should have like taken summer classes so she could graduate early," Kurt said. "The club won't do well for at least a couple of years since they'll have to start completely from scratch. Finding 10 new people in one year? Maybe some of the Cheerios that came with you will join the club when Rachel's gone."

"Now, that's a possibility," Sam said.

"Well, I'll take these pizza boxes and toss them. We'll go look for our parents. Art had to leave after we sang to fly back to Ohio." Kurt said. "Nick, Jeff - grab the drink bottles."

"Right," Nick said. He and Jeff stood up and grabbed all of the drink bottles and the four of them left the room.

Once they got out in the hall, Kurt said, "Don't mention anything to anyone else. Sam's not out to anyone."

"Got it," Jeff said.

Nick nodded.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad met back up with Sam and Sebastian at 4:40 and headed back down the street to the auditorium. Sam walked with Kurt and Sebastian and Thad walked behind them.

They split up when they got to the auditorium and sat with their own groups. When the group before the New Directions was on stage, Kurt went down to the lower level to record them, just like Sam had done for him. Their first number was "Edge of Glory", with Santana and Mercedes, like Sam had said. Rachel did a good job on her solo. The group number went fairly well too. But it was a shame that the rest of the seniors didn't get featured at all, especially in such a long song like "Dashboard Lights". Once they finished, he headed back up to sit with Thad and Sebastian. They sat through the last 10 groups.

After the final intermission, the groups waited around and sent a couple of members to check the finalist board. Both the New Directions and the Warblers were on the Top 10 list, but not in the top three. The New Directions had ranked 4th and the Warblers ranked 6th.

Rachel was distraught. Blaine was trying to comfort her. Kurt overheard them talking.

"Rachel, listen to me, please. We both already got into NYADA. We're going to New York in the fall. It's okay. I know we all wanted to win, but the two of us already won. We're going to New York. Our parents got us the apartment we wanted. We're going to the school we wanted to go to."

"You're right. You're right. I just really wanted to win."

"Fourth place is better than last year. And the schools that beat us have huge budgets like Vocal Adrenaline did. They have choreographers and get dance lessons and they don't take just anyone. They actually keep people out who don't fit their criteria. You saw them. None of those groups would have let Artie join, and even Mercedes and Joe might have been vetoed. We had practically no money and no outside help. We did great."

He hugged her and she calmed down. "You're right. We did a good job."

Kurt stepped back inside the auditorium. Thad had already let everyone know of their 6th place position. There wasn't much point in staying for the awards, but in good prep school boy style, they stayed and clapped for the winners.

Afterwards, Kurt and Thad met up with their parents and left for a restaurant to eat. The rest of the Warblers headed off together.

Kurt got a text from Sebastian asking him to bring back two salads. Kurt laughed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad got back before the rest of the group. Kurt texted Sebastian from the elevator. They knocked and then opened the door. Not surprisingly, they found Sam and Sebastian sitting on their bed, both with wet hair again.

"Kurt's salad delivery at your service, sirs." He handed them the bag with their food in it. "We'll be back."

"Take your time," Sebastian said smirking.

Kurt rolled his eyes and grabbed his and Thad's pajamas and headed into the bathroom.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When they came back out, Sam was gone and Nick and Jeff weren't back yet.

"So?" Kurt asked

"I told you I don't kiss and tell last night."

"That was then and this is now," Kurt said.

"Okay, so he's gorgeous and funny."

"Yeah. That I knew. I HAVE known him for over a year and a half, remember?"

"Fine. He's a fabulous kisser."

"Mmm hmm."

"And obviously very into personal hygiene," Thad laughed.

Sebastian threw a pillow at him.

"As if the two of you aren't into 'personal hygiene'. We share a bathroom. I know how long you two are in the shower. Far too long to just be getting clean."

This time Kurt threw a pillow at Sebastian. "Yeah, but we dated for a long time and we're married. So, we're entitled to extra long showers."

"Mmm hmm."

"Do you like him?"

"Yes. I told you he's funny and he's fun to be around. It's not like I didn't already know him. We've been talking all school year. We were already friends. I just didn't know he liked guys. So, I never flirted with him or anything."

"Alright, then."

"That's it? No more interrogations?"

"Nope. You're 18. He's 18. You're both adults. I don't know what either of you want from this, but it's not my job to find out. That's up to the two of you. I mean I hope neither of you get hurt because you're both my friends, but other than that, I'm not going to tease you or harass you."

"Fair enough. He's going to see if he can come with us to the museum tomorrow. The New Directions guys are going to some sports stadium thing, but he'd rather go to the museum of science and industry with us."

"Cool," Kurt said.

"You're really okay with this?"

"Sure. He's a really good guy. He keeps his word. He's smart. He's sweet. He's funny. I just never knew he liked guys."

"You'd let him be the fourth musketeer, wouldn't you?"

"Of course."

Sebastian laughed. "Of course."

"Only problem is he doesn't speak French and he's going to be in Lima."

"Well, I can solve the Lima part pretty easily. All that takes is a plane ticket."

"And a passport and maybe a visa, not sure on that part."

"All things that can be gotten. We'll see. Would you let him come to Florida with us?"

Kurt looked at Thad since it was his place. "Sure," Thad said.

Sebastian's phone pinged. He picked it up. "He says that if you get Mr. Browning to agree to it, Mr. Schue says it's fine."

"What room is Mr. Schue in?"

Sebastian texted Kurt's question. "459."

"Alright then. Tell him I'll text him after I go talk to Mr. Browning. I'll be back."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Mr. Schuester, this is Mr. Browning, our faculty chaperone."

They shook hands.

"So, Sam wants to go with Kurt to the museum tomorrow. I'm okay with it. He's 18 and doesn't need a parent to sign for him. I just need to make sure it's okay with you."

"It's fine with me." Mr. Browning said. "As you said, he's 18. When is your group heading back to Ohio?"

"Not until 4:00. Parents are coming at 10:00 to pick the kids up that didn't leave their cars."

"Oh. We're leaving at 1:30. We have a longer drive and our students have finals next week. We're supposed to get back as close to 8:00 as we can."

"I understand," Mr. Schue said in a way that sounds like Sam couldn't go at that point.

"Could we just drop Sam in Lima?" Kurt asked.

"My truck is at school," Sam said.

"That's up to you, Mr. Schuester. I'm fine with it. We can drive through Lima on the way to Westerville."

"Is that what you want Sam?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then. Take your luggage when you go with them in the morning."

"Can I just get it now and stay with Kurt?"

"It makes no difference to me, Sam. If there's room for you in Kurt's room, that's fine."

"I'll be up in 10 minutes," Sam said. "Thanks, Mr. Browning."

"Sure, Sam." he said.

Sam took off.

Mr. Browning said, "Good night. I'm heading back to my room. See you in the morning, Kurt."

"Thanks, Mr. Browning." Kurt turned back to Mr. Schuester.

"I didn't know you and Sam were so close," Mr. Schue said.

"We've been friends since last year. He's been to Westerville when he could. We Skype a lot. He knows Thad and Sebastian too. Obviously, I couldn't visit him in Lima."

"Right. I know."

"The New Directions did really well tonight. Congratulations."

"Thanks, Kurt. I heard the Warblers won the a cappella nationals. That's really something. You did a great job. I should have given you more opportunities."

"That's in the past. I'm happy where I am."

"I can tell. That's really great. I'm glad for you."

"Thanks for letting Sam come with us. He was really excited about the museum."

"I hope you all enjoy yourselves."

"We will. Good night." Kurt walked away.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt got back to his room and Sam was already there and opened the door when Kurt stuck his keycard in. Kurt stepped inside and pulled Sam close.

"Nick and Jeff do not know that Thad and I got married. Please don't say anything."

"I remember. I won't say a word."

"So, we need to sleep. We have to be packed up and downstairs at 8:00 to load the bus and then eat."

"So where's Sam sleeping?" Nick asked.

Thad answered, "He and Sebastian can have our bed. Kurt and I are used to sleeping in a twin bed together."

"Alright then. Everyone get to where they're going so I can turn the light off."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They had all voted to override Mr. Browning at dinner the evening before and had decided to wear regular clothes on the last day. Sebastian hadn't packed anything other than uniform clothes and the dark jeans they had been wearing as pseudo uniform pieces.

"Bas, catch!" Sam said.

Sebastian caught a Captain America t-shirt and put it on. "Thanks."

Sam was wearing an Avatar t-shirt. Kurt and Thad hadn't brought anything but uniform clothes and the hoodies they had on when they flew into town. They both put their hoodies back on since they couldn't get away with just wearing one of the t-shirts they brought to sleep in. By the time Nick and Jeff were out of the bathroom, the other four had all of their stuff packed up and ready to go except their bathroom items, which they packed as soon as they used them.

They were all downstairs at 8:00. They loaded their luggage on the minibus, turned in their keycards, and then headed to the breakfast area to eat. By 8:45, they were on their way to the museum.

Mr. Browning allowed the six of them to be a group without a chaperone since they were all 18. The three groups headed in and started to explore.

"This place is so cool," Sam said. "This is way better than a baseball stadium."

"I'd say so," Kurt said.

"So, which way first?" Nick asked.

"Top up or bottom down? Jeff added.

"Middle, top, bottom?" Kurt suggested. "Since it just opened, I think most people will either start at the top or bottom. If we start in the middle, it will probably be the least crowded."

"Good idea." Jeff said.

They headed to the elevator and got off on the 1st floor, which actually held most of the gallery rooms.

"Let's look at the map and figure out which way we want to go and if there are any must-see or don't-care exhibits. We only have four hours," Kurt said.

They looked through the map and made their choices.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Everyone met back in the lobby at 1:30. They filed onto the bus and headed off for Ohio. They stopped at an Arby's once they were about an hour into Indiana. They all ate quickly and got back on the bus. Kurt, Thad, Sebastian and Sam sat in rows one behind the other. Sebastian and Sam got up on their knees and talked to them for a while and eventually turned back around and faced forward.

Most of the Warblers fell asleep not too long after they had gotten back on the bus after eating. Kurt and Thad were still awake and so were Sebastian and Sam. Kurt scooted towards the window. Sebastian sat in the middle and Sam sat on the end. Thad sat on Kurt's lap and put his legs across Sebastian and Sam's laps. Not the most comfortable, but they wanted to be able to talk quietly.

"So, Friday night, we'll drive to my house from Dalton. You drive there from McKinley. We go swimming and eat dinner. The next day is our graduation. We all leave from my house. Kurt and Thad's parents will be there. We graduate. We go back to my house and we have a graduation cookout. Sam's stays the night. We have fun on Sunday. Sam goes back to Lima Sunday night to take his finals. We stay at my house all week like we had planned. Sam comes whenever he can, if he can, since he has to study. We go to Lima to his graduation. We'll wait until it's just about to start and sit in the very back and leave immediately and wait for him where?"

"Um?" Sam was thinking.

"Are your parents having a party?"

"No, I told them I didn't want one. I'm just going to celebrate with the three of you at yours. I'm passing all of my classes with Bs. I'm going to graduate."

"Well, they could come to my house too, if you want."

"I'll see. I have a little brother and sister that would need watched. Quinn might do it since it's not our graduation weekend."

"Back to Sam's graduation day," Kurt said, refocusing them.

"So, you could just follow us back to my house right after the ceremony?" Sebastian asked.

"Maybe after lunch after the ceremony."

"Right. Lunch. You could drive to my place after you have lunch with your parents."

"I'd like you to come too."

"Oh, okay. Are they going to be okay with this?"

"I'll tell them. If they aren't, they aren't. And we'll have a plan B where I just drive to your house after I finish lunch."

"Thad and I won't stay in Lima for any longer than absolutely necessary. So, if you're going to lunch with Sam and his family, we'll need your car to go back to your dad's."

"Alright."

"The next day we're all flying to Florida."

"So cool. I've never been," Sam said.

"I've just been the one time I went with them over winter break. It was cool. Totally beautiful. You'll love it."

"So, we've got it mostly planned out," Kurt said. "We need to know about Sam's lunch plans mostly."

"I'll work on it and let you know ASAP," Sam said.

"Let's move back up. I'm squished," Sebastian said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They stopped at McKinley and let Sam off the bus. Kurt stood on the step inside the bus to make sure that Sam's truck had air in all the tires and actually started when he turned it over. Once Sam was backing up and pulling out, Kurt moved off the step and back to his seat and Mr. Browning took off for Westerville.

They arrive a little after 8:30. They unloaded and went to their rooms. Kurt plopped their suitcase up on the empty bed. He walked straight through the bathroom, knocked and walked into Sebastian's room.

"So, did you guys decide that you're dating or friends with benefits or what?"

"Does it matter?"

"I don't know. I mean I won't love you any less or more. You're still going to be my best friend besides Thad. I guess I just want to know what Sam is to you. You seemed a lot more serious today than you did yesterday."

"We're dating. He's my boyfriend."

"Okay." Kurt turned to go back to his room.

"That's it?"

"Did you expect me to interrogate you or something?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I'm not going to. I just wanted to know. Things seemed to have changed and I wanted to be certain."

"You're okay with this."

"I told you I was."

"And what if I had said friends with benefits?"

"That's fine. I meant what I said. You're both adults. You decide what's right for you."

"Well, I really do like him. He said he's liked me for a long time, but he knew he couldn't act on it while living in Lima. He saw how you were treated. He couldn't do that to his family. They've just started acclimating since Lima's not very outsider friendly. I'm imagining that his family will not take it well. He's risking a lot."

"He doesn't have much going for him in Lima. He knows that. He's made the best choices of those available to him. But he doesn't want to stay in Lima."

"Well, then I don't fell so bad stealing him away."

"You're going to invite him to France aren't you."

"Probably. I want to give us a few weeks to make sure we're okay. I mean if things don't work out, he can go back to Lima and go back to his original plan. But I'd like to think positively."

"Alright then. We'll see how the next few weeks go."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad spent finals week washing clothes, organizing things, boxing up stuff, packing their suitcases, and helping Sebastian do the same since he had tests to study for and lacrosse practice.

"So, we've got stuff to donate, and we're going to ship our coats and a few pairs of my boots. We need to get a box the right size to lay our coats out in flat or find a garment bag that can be loaded as luggage, which I would prefer."

"Well figure it out this afternoon once classes end and we can leave the building."

They went back to trying to get everything set to go.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

As soon as Warblers rehearsal ended on Thursday, Sebastian pulled his car up to the front of the building. Thad sat in the car while Kurt and Sebastian loaded everything from both of their rooms in the car. The only things left in their rooms were their graduation robes, which they were not allowed to remove from the school building.

Kurt and Sebastian got in.

"I can't believe it's over," Kurt said. "I looked forward to it ending so that I could escape and once I didn't need to escape, it became enjoyable to be here again, like it was before."

"I've been here for nearly four years. It's weird leaving."

"I've been here the shortest, but this place has left a lasting impact. I mean I got the two best friends I've ever had in a place I really, really didn't want to come to."

"The mysterious ways of fate," Kurt said.

"You don't believe in fate," Sebastian said.

"I know, but it sounded fitting." Kurt laughed.

"Let's get going," Thad said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Sebastian hauled all of the stuff from his car upstairs and put it in Sebastian's room for the time being.

Thad was waiting for them in the front room when they had finally finished. "My parents will be here about 8:00. They said to go ahead and eat dinner without them. They're just going to eat whatever is served on the plane."

"Alright. I believe we promised Art a homemade dinner, so let's go see what's available," Kurt said.

About 10 minutes later, he had turned Sebastian and Thad into sous chefs and had them dicing and chopping and prepping stuff. By the time Art got home from work, the whole downstairs smelled good. He followed his nose to the kitchen.

"It smells fantastic in here."

"Have a seat. It's almost done," Sebastian said.

"I'm going to go change. I'll be right back."

By the time he got back, Kurt and Sebastian had placed all of the food on the table and Thad had set the table and everything was ready to go. They all sat down and Kurt started passing the dishes around the table and each person took what they wanted.

"It's like Thanksgiving, but better," Art said. "If you ever decide that music isn't the career for you, you could be a chef. Every dish is delicious."

"It's only fun to cook for people I care about. I don't think I'd enjoy running a restaurant, but thank you for the compliment."

"So, are you all excited for graduation?"

"Yes and no," Thad said. "It's a weird feeling. I've been there for four years. It will be really strange to no longer see people that I've seen for four years."

"I felt that way too, but since I came back here after college, I still run into some of the people I went to school with. You three are headed so far away that it won't be that way for you."

"I feel like this year drug on and then flew to an end. Being stuck in the school for months on end really got to me. And then once it was over, the time just flew by. It's a hard thing to come to terms with."

"And the ending you got was bittersweet." Art said. "Your freedom at a high cost. I'm not implying that you should feel bad for him because I don't think that. I just mean that he paid a high price for his self-hatred. Sebastian and I already talked about it, but I'm really sorry for any time I made someone feel bad about themselves like that over something they couldn't change. I think that in a way it's a waste that his story can't be brought to light to let other people see just how hard people try to be what they think they should be and just how impossible it is to be something you're not. I never really understood until recently and I'm old, well middle-aged. So many things need to change. My main goal is to see what can be done about getting every school in Ohio to have no-bullying policies."

"That would be a good start." Kurt said. "We can't make people like people they want to hate, but we can prevent them from hurting people just because they're different."

"I can't imagine going to a school like McKinley," Sebastian said. "Kurt had so much courage to be himself there. What 800 students? And he was the only one brave enough to be himself? Statistics say there's 40-80 LGBTQ teens in the school, but none of the rest of them are out."

"Well, Santana got outed, so she and Brittany were out this past school year. So, three kids in the last four years were out."

"That's really hard. So, you see why Sam wasn't out. I know you feel concerned that he's just toying around and not serious, but his family was new last school year. Kurt's dad had to intervene to even get him a job when the company he had gotten a job with closed. Sam couldn't even get on anywhere and drove all the way to Westerville to work on the weekends because it was the only place he could find at the time."

"Art, Sam's the real deal," Kurt said. "He's an upright guy. He kept everything secret all year. He never once mentioned to anyone that he and I were friends. He kept it to himself to protect me. His family may not be accepting though. I haven't talked to him about it. This week I was just helping him with reviewing for his math final, not really talking about anything personal."

"Alright. I believe you Kurt. I have no reason to distrust you. While you have hidden things to protect the people you love, you have never lied to me. So, he's coming to your game tomorrow, and then back home with us and staying the weekend?"

"Right. Then he has to go back to Lima for the week to take all of his finals. His graduation ceremony is next Saturday. He's coming here afterwards and the four of us are going to Florida the next day."

"I'll be nice. I promise."

"Thanks, Dad. Don't judge him too harshly either okay. He's not a prep school boy. He grew up in Tennessee and then lived in Lima the last almost two years. His parents lost their house, he's been homeless, and lived in a run-down motel."

"It will be fine, Sebastian. Kurt trusts him and Kurt doesn't trust easily. Sam has to be a good guy."

Kurt asked, "Does anyone want seconds? If not we're eating what's left for lunch tomorrow."

"Leftovers are fine with me," Thad said. "It was good, but I'm full."

"Me too," Sebastian said.

"I might have just one more biscuit," Art said. "They're really good."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, the three guys were up and ready to leave by 8:30. Ellen was sitting in the front room reading a newspaper on her iPad. "I'm sorry we missed seeing you last night. Our flight got delayed and we didn't get here until almost midnight. We woke poor Art up letting us in."

"It's alright. Flights are like that sometimes. We'll be back in about two hours, probably. We have the studio from 9:30-10:30."

"What are you doing in a studio?"

"Sorry, Mom. We got so busy I forgot to tell you. We're making a CD. We rented the studio for an hour and we're going to record all of the songs we learned this year. It won't be for sale, but each Warbler will get one and we can copy them for family members that want them."

"That's a really cool idea."

"It was Kurt's. He thought it would be a good idea for my career to record all of the arrangements I did this year. It's his graduation present to me and the Warblers all agreed to do it. It should be fun. We'll be back soon!"

"Bye!"

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

By the time the three of them got back from the studio, Burt and Carole had arrived. Burt and Donovan were discussing business and politics with Art. Ellen and Carole were talking as well.

The three guys sat down near Ellen and Carole.

"So, how did it go?" Ellen asked.

"It went great. The guys did a great job," Thad answered.

"We'll pick the CDs up next week and mail them out," Kurt said.

"Please make us a copy," Carole said.

"Us too," Ellen said.

"We were planning to," Kurt responded.

"So, what's the plan?" Sebastian asked.

"Well, we could eat and swim. Or swim and eat. Whichever," Kurt said.

"What time is the game?" Carole asked.

"Not until 6:00. Sam should get here around 4:00." Sebastian said.

"Alright. Eating, swimming, and baking," Thad said.

"Where did the baking part come from?" Kurt asked.

"Well, you made Art dinner, but he didn't get any dessert," Thad said.

"I see. So, it's for Art's benefit. So, I should make him a cake? A cake for one?"

Sebastian laughed.

"Alright, fine. You're too smart to slip anything past. I want cookies," Thad said.

Kurt kissed him on the cheek. "All you had to do was ask. So, let's go add to last night's leftovers and have a buffet lunch. Anyone who wants to help me cook can come to the kitchen with me."

Carole got up and followed him, as did Thad. The other two got up and came to the kitchen and sat at the bar side of the island and waited to be given something to do, even though they didn't volunteer to actually cook anything.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

An hour later, everyone lined up and made their way around the island filling their plates with whatever caught their eye. They carried their plates and drinks outside and sat on the patio and ate.

After they finished eating, the moms and the three teens put their swimming suits on and got in the pool.

By 2:00, they all headed back inside to shower and change.

Kurt, Thad, and Sebastian went back to the kitchen. Kurt started looking through the pantry and pulling things out and handing them to Sebastian who handed them to Thad who plopped them on the kitchen counter.

"I guess we're having snickerdoodles because I can't find any chocolate chips. I could make a batch of brownies too for the chocolate fans."

"Ooh. Good idea," Thad said.

Kurt grabbed the cocoa and came out of the pantry. Kurt set everything up, mixed everything together and the other two helped scoop the dough onto cookie sheets. While the two of them were putting trays in and out of the oven, Kurt whipped up the brownies and put them in a pan to bake.

Once that was set aside, he started washing everything that couldn't be loaded into the dishwasher. They put all of the ingredients back while the brownies were baking.

The smell of cinnamon in the air drew everyone to the kitchen.

"Can we eat these?" Art asked.

"Sure. You get the first one, since it was pointed out to me that I failed to make you dessert last night." Kurt winked at Thad, who laughed.

"I see. Well, whatever gets me first in line is fine with me." He took a few cookies. "I smell chocolate."

"The brownies are in the oven still," Sebastian said.

"There's brownies?" Burt asked.

"Yes, Dad. I made brownies too."

Everyone took a few cookies off the tray and sat at the dining room table. Sebastian went in the kitchen and pulled out drinks and glasses and put them on the table. People served themselves.

"These are really good, Kurt. Better than any I've had from a bakery. You've been spoiled, Burt. He's been cooking for you all these years?"

Burt laughed. "Well, he doesn't make this stuff for me very often. He makes me eat heart-healthy, high fiber, vegetable dishes. And he had the nerve to leave all of his healthy cookbooks for Carole to use after he went off to Dalton."

"I see," Art laughed.

"They aren't bad. I just like to tease him. He's a great cook."

Kurt rolled his eyes. The timer went off and he got up to take the brownies out. He was pulling them out when the doorbell rang. Sebastian got up to go answer it.

"Sam. Come in. I'm glad you're here. Just sit your bag down on the stairs over there. We can take it upstairs in a little bit."

"Kurt's been baking," Sam said, smelling cinnamon and chocolate in the air.

"He has," Sebastian laughed. "Come on."

Sam followed Sebastian back to the kitchen and dining room area. When Kurt saw him, he hurried over and pulled him into a hug. "You're here!"

"I am," he laughed.

"Have some cookies. The brownies should be cool enough to cut in a little bit."

Sam followed Kurt to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of cookies.

"So, your last week of school is coming up." Kurt stated.

"Yep. I'm ready to be done."

The two of them went into the dining room and sat down with everyone else. Sam poured himself some milk. They all sat around talking together and in small groups until the timer went off again. Kurt went back into the kitchen and cut the brownies up and since it seemed that everyone was waiting for one, he put a brownie on a napkin for each person. He looked around for a tray and found one. He put the brownies on it and carried it into the dining room.

"Ooh, those look good," Art said. Kurt offered him one first. He took one and then passed the tray around the table.

Kurt sat down next to Thad. By the time the tray went around, all 9 brownies had been taken. Seeing everyone enjoy what he had baked made him smile. Thad took his hand and squeezed it under the table.

Everyone thanked Kurt for the treats and they broke back up into groups around the house. Carole and Ellen headed into the room where they had played games at Christmas and found a Scrabble game. They set it up and played.

The four guys headed upstairs. Sam grabbed his bag on the way up. They changed into Dalton colors and were ready to leave at 5:00 with Sebastian.

They headed downstairs again and said their goodbyes on their way out to Sebastian's car.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After they parked, Sebastian headed off to the pitch and the other three headed to the stands. Thad went to get them drinks, giving Kurt a chance to talk to Sam alone.

"So, you like him?" Kurt asked.

"I do. I have all year. It just wouldn't have worked out then. I can't hurt my family. I saw what happened to you. Your dad is a pillar of the community. Seriously, everyone knows your dad and likes him. And even with that, you were treated terribly. My parents are just starting to get accepted."

"I completely understand. I really do. I wasn't questioning your motives for not saying anything earlier. I just really wanted to know if you like him."

"He's your friend. I get it. You're concerned that I'm just experimenting and I'm just going to break his heart."

"Pretty much."

"I've liked guys before. Heck, I thought you were cute. But I just never acted on it. I really did want to sing with you. You're super good, and at the time, I really had no idea what getting involved with you, even as a friend, would have set me up for."

"That's why I backed out. I didn't know you liked guys. I didn't ask you because of that. It's just that no one ever wanted to sing with me, and you were new. And you were so nice. No guy had ever been nice to me before. But it's better that we didn't sing together. You've been able to make it through fairly unscathed. With Sue declaring that all of that mess last year was a lie, it put an end to most of the rumors."

"Yeah. And to be honest, I'm not sure that I'm bi. I really think I might just be gay. I was supposed to like girls. I mean that's what I was taught. Boys like girls, they date, they get married, and they have kids. That's the progression of how things were supposed to be. But honestly, being with Sebastian is a lot different than it has been dating girls. Girls are pretty, but guys are hot. Well, some of them are."

Kurt laughed. "Everyone has their own opinion of what's hot. But I get it."

"So, no, I'm not just experimenting with Sebastian. I really do like him. He's smart and funny. We just have a good time. It's not stressful like it always was when I dated girls. I could never figure out what to say or what to do. With Sebastian it's just easy."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah. I'm glad for you both."

They found seats and saved 5 for the adults who would arrive soon.

"I'm looking forward to Florida," Sam said.

"Me too," Thad said.

"Aren't you two hot in those hoodies?"

"We're still abiding by the headmaster's request to keep our tattoos covered. The school rules about them are very vague and he asked us to leave them covered. So, until tomorrow after the graduation ceremony ends, we'll be wearing long sleeves."

"Got it. I don't have to have a suit for tomorrow, do I? I just thought about that."

"I don't see why, but if anyone thinks you aren't dressed up enough, I'm pretty sure you could fit into something of Sebastian's or definitely Art's for the ceremony itself."

"Okay.

A few minutes later, the adults all arrived. The three teens waved so they could find them. They made their way up into the stands and sat down. The game started. It was as fast-paced as the last one and had the same outcome. Dalton was moving ahead in the tourney. Sebastian scored 5 times.

The adults headed out to the restaurant since it was popular and didn't accept reservations. They decided they'd go put their names on the wait list and get a table sooner.

Sebastian showered and changed as quickly as he could and met them near the stands. He looked surprised when Sam pulled him into a hug and then kissed him quickly. "You rocked! Lacrosse is cool. Kurt was right." He let loose of Sebastian and offered his hand, which Sebastian took. They headed out to the car and headed to the restaurant.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"The Thurmanator? There is no way I could eat that much," Kurt said.

"There are so many different choices," Thad said. "I think I'm going to order something spicy."

"The Hawaiian one sounds interesting," Sam said.

A few minutes later, the waitress came by and all of them placed their orders. They talked about the game and graduation. Once all of their meals arrived, they quieted down and started eating. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered.

When they had all finished, the check was brought out. Sam reached for his wallet. Kurt pushed his hand down and shook his head slightly. Sam raised an eyebrow and Kurt just shook his head again. Sam put his wallet back.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Once they were in the car, Sam brought it up. "Why wouldn't you let me offer to pay?"

"It's that they wouldn't have let you no matter how much of a fuss you had put up. I just figured I'd save you the embarrassment of losing the argument, like I did numerous times," Kurt said.

Thad said, "I believe my parents put it like this... 'We have money. We can't take it with us, so you should let us enjoy how we choose to spend it."

"I see," Sam said.

"I've not accepted it well either, Sam. But I've learned that ruining nice people's dinners because I want to be stubborn isn't really kind."

"Okay. I get that. I don't have to like it, but I can live with it. Rejecting people's generosity isn't kind."

"Exactly. Thad's parents and Art have more money than they could ever spend just on themselves unless they went out and bought several yachts or islands or mansions. They do the jobs they have because they like to do them. They have money and they like to spend it on whatever they choose to, which includes their kids and their kid's friends."

"Got it."

"So... sleeping arrangements. Let's decide before we get back," Sebastian said. "Usually Kurt and Thad just sleep in my bed with me. I'm not sure if all four of us can fit, but we can try. Or Kurt and Thad can take the third guest room and sleep on their own."

"Which way will cause less drama?" Kurt asked.

"Probably if we all sleep in the same room since all of them will assume that none of us would do anything untoward with the other couple in the room," Sebastian said.

"Alright, then. We'll try four in the bed. If it doesn't work, someone or two someones will have to sleep on the floor I guess," Thad said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After everyone had showered and they were all pajama-clad, they tried to all fit in the bed, which resulted in a lot of laughing.

"We need to try again. Everyone up. Thad first, then me, then Sebastian, then Sam."

They got up and all lay down again.

"Well, as long as we can all sleep on our sides, we'll be fine," Thad said. "And since we put the chair over here, at least I don't feel like I'm going to fall on the floor." He reached over and turned on some music, turned the light off, and they all went to sleep.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Rather than attempt to cook for so many people the next morning, Art had breakfast catered in. It was delivered at 8:30 and they all headed into the dining room to eat. Platters were passed around and everyone took what they wanted.

The three graduating teens needed to be at Dalton at 11:00. Sam was going with them.

After they ate, the teens headed back upstairs to get ready. Kurt, Thad, and Sebastian put their uniforms on. Sam put on the slacks and button up shirt that he had brought with him.

Sebastian went to his closet and pulled out a vest and tie and handed it to Sam. "That ought to make you dressed up enough."

"Thanks."

"Let's head downstairs so our parents can take the photos they wanted before we leave."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sam walked to the auditorium entrance, showed his invitation, and went to his assigned seat. Sebastian, Kurt, and Thad went in the front and up to their dorm rooms to put their robes on.

They headed to the Warblers practice room once they were dressed. They carried their caps. The robes for the performance were on hangers on a portable rack. They waited for the rest of the Warblers to arrive and they warmed up and practiced "Unwritten". They would be performing it without the choreography for the ceremony. The choir robes and the graduation gowns were nearly identical - solid navy blue with red piping, similar to their blazers. The Dalton crest on the choir robes was smaller though.

The seniors went to the cafeteria where they were lining up for the processional. Their cords were distributed as they signed in. National Honor Society- gold, Warblers- navy/red twist, varsity sports team - red, perfect 4.0 GPA-white, non-sports competitive club-gray.

Out of the 150 or so graduates, 25 had perfect GPAs and anyone who wanted to be considered for giving the graduation speech had to submit their proposed speech the week before finals.

Kurt, Thad, and Sebastian put their cords on. They took pictures of each other, knowing that their parents would want nice ones. Sebastian also took photos of Kurt and Thad together. The six senior Warblers stood together and had someone take their photo as well. Nick took a photo of the three of them and Kurt took photos of Nick and Jeff together. About what seemed like a hundred photos later, they were called to line up.

They walked toward the auditorium, filed into the hallway, and waited until it was time for them to enter. The ceremony started and the seniors filed onto the stage onto the risers. They stood through Headmaster Carlson's speech.

A slide show took place showing a toddler photo and the senior photo of each graduate. Lots of "awws" and "ohs" could be heard throughout the audience.

After the slide show, the senior's names were called. They walked across the stage, shook hands with the headmaster, accepted their diploma, moved their tassels, walked off into the wings to have their pictures taken, and filed back onto the risers afterwards.

The Warblers didn't file back in. They walked behind the curtain and assembled in the wings on the other side and put on the headset mics. The seniors laid their diploma folders on a table. Once all of the seniors had gotten their diplomas, their pictures taken, and were back on the risers, the Warblers filed out onto the stage and stood toward the front of the stage. Their mics were turned on and the background vocalists and vocal percussion started. Kurt came in strong, "I am unwritten, can't read my mind. I'm undefined... Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten."

Once they finished the song, their mics were turned off, and they filed off the stage. The seniors picked their diploma folders back up and quietly filed up onto the end space of each row of the risers, with Thad entering last, so he would be standing on the floor.

Once everyone was back in place, Headmaster Carlson called Thad up to the microphone. Kurt was surprised and smiled.

Thad took his place and began his speech.

"I've learned a lot of things during the four years that I've spent at Dalton. I've learned to how solve quadratic equations, how to properly conjugate French verbs, and how to make sure I don't end sentences with prepositions. I've learned about the key players in world history. I've learned about people who've spent their life in pursuit of scientific information that has improved the lives of people all over the world. I've learned how to be a team player and how to strike out on my own to pursue my own interests.

"Something I've learned in several ways is that money can buy happiness, despite some people insisting that it can't. Happiness is a temporary fleeting feeling that's based on the positive outcome of events. Your favorite sports team wins and you feel happy. The store you go to has just the item you need and you feel happy. Your mom makes your favorite dessert for your birthday and you feel happy. Money can buy experiences like trips to theme parks that make you feel happy while you're there. Happiness is fleeting.

"What money can't buy is joy or contentment. I encourage everyone graduating and even those of you here celebrating our graduation to pursue what gives you joy. Find what provides contentment and include it in your life. Joy comes from making honest connections with people. Deep personal connections with other people bring joy. Knowing that someone is there for you because they choose to be brings true joy and contentment that can never be bought.

"Another thing that money cannot buy is time. You can pay other people to do things for you and not spend time doing them yourself, but that's not the same as being able to buy it. Time cannot be rewound or overwritten. Spend it with the people you love.

"A year ago, as we were being encouraged to consider our career options during our junior year, like many of you, my mind was being pushed toward the corporate world, toward the pursuit of money and the power and status it brings. And while it never called to me the way it does to some people, I did hear it calling. Money provides stability, influence, and status.

"Right before the school year was over, an accident could have ended my life. I survived. I had to reevaluate a lot of things. Small things like how could I get my socks on became huge. I faced the question of what was truly important and what was not every day. Questions like will I ever walk without this leg brace I'm wearing still remain. Life can be full of pain and sadness, but joy can still be found. You won't find it in your paycheck, no matter how large it is. Despite the difficulties my recovery brought, the joy from sharing my time with someone who cared enough to be there every step of the way made all the difference.

"The corporate world lost its glitter. Music came to the forefront and it is where I can invest myself fully. It fills a place in my soul that is empty without it. I will be studying music along with the person who makes getting out of bed and facing each day worth the effort.

"My wish for everyone here is that you find what fulfills you and that you pursue it wholeheartedly. I encourage you to invest in your relationships. Live purposefully, love completely and unconditionally."

Thad went back to his place with the rest of the seniors.

The curtain closed and the ceremony was over. The seniors stayed on the stage. The photographers entered and had them file down and back up onto the risers by height, tallest in the back row. Once everyone was repositioned, the curtain was reopened, so the photographers could get into good positions to photograph the group. Once the photos were done, they filed down and into the auditorium to see their families before they turned their robes and keys in.

Kurt, Thad, and Sebastian texted their parents and asked them to move to the front of the auditorium. As they walked up to the front, Sebastian practically yelled, " _Maman!_ " and took off up the aisle and wrapped his arms around his mom and practically picked her up. The tears started flowing all while he had the biggest smile on his face.

" _I had no idea you were coming. I'm so glad to see you!"_ He turned and quickly started the introductions. _"Maman, this is Kurt and Thad."_ Solange hugged them each in turn. _"It's so nice to finally meet you, Kurt,_ " she said as she hugged him.

He introduced Burt, Carole, Donovan, and Ellen next. They all shook hands as they were introduced. Sam was hanging back, but Sebastian walked to where he was standing, took his hand and pulled him into the group.

" _This is my boyfriend, Sam."_

Solange switched to English. "It's nice to meet you, Sam."

"You too," Sam said.

They all rearranged in a multitude of ways and took photos. Once they were finished, the three graduates walked to the cafeteria and turned in their caps, gowns, and keys. They returned a few minutes later wearing just their cords around their necks, carrying their diplomas and tassels.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Solange rode with Sebastian and the other three teens back to Art's house. Sebastian's smile could not have been any bigger.

"This is the best surprise ever. How long are you staying?"

"Just until tomorrow night. You know that school isn't out yet. I had to get a substitute for Monday, but I didn't want miss your graduation."

"I'm just so glad to see you."

"Me too, Sebastian. The song your choir sang was really nice. You all sound so much better in person."

They told her about the recording they had done.

"Please make me a copy too."

"Of course. I had already planned to."

"So, what do the cords stand for?" she asked.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When they got back to Art's house, Sebastian got his mom's luggage out of Carole's car and took it upstairs to the remaining guest room. He knew this was awkward for his mom, but he was really glad that she came. She followed him up the stairs.

She and everyone else changed into casual clothes and met back downstairs.

"So, is everyone ready?" Art asked. He didn't hear any dissenting answers, so they headed back out to the cars.

This time the moms rode together in Carole's car and the dads rode together in Art's car. The teens all went in Sebastian's car.

They went to a nearby Chinese buffet, allowing them eat without waiting since it was already 2:00 in the afternoon.

After they finished eating, all four of the seniors were handed envelopes. "Now, we know that one of you is going to like this much more than the others, but hopefully you will all four have fun."

They opened the envelopes to find a ticket to see the Broadway tour of _Wicked_ in Dayton the following week.

"Oh my GOD!" Kurt nearly screeched. "Thank you!"

"We'll have fun. All of us," Sam said. "Thank you."

Thad and Sebastian also thanked everyone while listening to Kurt go on and on about how amazing it was going to be. The other three were smiling at his utter excitement.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I'm sorry Sebastian," Sam said as they put their seatbelts on when they left the restaurant.

"For what?"

"I know you said I could invite my parents, but I couldn't bring myself to tell them. I was going to. I really was. Then I looked at my brother and sister. I can't do it to them."

Sebastian reached over and took his hand. "It's okay. I'm not upset. Don't forget. I took a dumpster dive with Kurt and Thad last fall. I've seen first hand what happens there. You were the one who said you were going to tell them. I never suggested it and I never expected you to. There's nothing to apologize for or for me to forgive. I'm just glad you came."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Later that afternoon, everyone who wanted to swim had changed and had gotten in the pool, which meant that the three dads were sitting on the other side of the yard still talking business and politics while the teens and the moms were in the pool.

After they had finished swimming and horsing around in the pool, everyone showered and redressed. They headed back out to the cars to go to Sebastian's lacrosse game. Solange was the most excited because she hadn't seen Sebastian play all school year. She cheered the loudest. Sebastian scored 6 times, which was his highest score all season and Dalton won. They were moving on to the State Semifinal game the next week.

Art told everyone, "I've ordered a bunch of pizzas and they'll be at the house in about 30 minutes. Why don't you four figure out a movie we can all watch?" The parents left to head to Art's.

The three teens looked through Netflix while they waited for Sebastian. They eventually decided on _Despicable Me_.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, Carole, Kurt, and Solange worked together to make breakfast for everyone around 10:00. They served it buffet style again and let everyone get in line and take what they wanted. They made pancakes, scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, turkey sausages, biscuits, gravy, and a fruit salad. They made coffee and sat juice and milk out as well. Everyone ate in the dining room this time.

When they were finished Sebastian, Sam, and Thad cleared the table, loaded the dishwasher, and washed the platters. Kurt packed up the leftovers and put them in the freezer to eat later in the week.

The teens went back upstairs and the adults went to the den.

"So, what's the plan for this afternoon?" Kurt asked once they were back in Sebastian's room.

"Well, I think we're just going to hang around the house for the afternoon," Thad said.

"Okay."

Sam said, "How about some music. I brought my guitar. It's in my car."

"Ooh, that sounds fun," Kurt said. "Go get it."

Sam and Sebastian went downstairs.

Kurt pushed Thad back gently and he laid back on his own. Kurt kissed him, which he gladly returned. They kissed for a few minutes. "I love you." He let Thad sit up before they came back.

"I love you too." Thad got up and grabbed his guitar and sat back on the bed next to Kurt who had slid to the middle and was leaning against the headboard. Thad tuned his guitar and was playing for Kurt when the other two came back.

Sam and Sebastian sat down on the other end of the bed and Sam tuned his guitar as well.

"How about 'I Get Around'? I think we could do it. Thad takes the lowest part, then Sam, then Bas, and I take the high part, of course."

"Let's listen to it once," Thad said. Kurt pulled it up on his phone and they listened. The second time through they tried to sing along.

They worked on it for about 30 minutes and they finally seemed to have it down. Thad used his phone to record them when they went through it one last time.

Sebastian's phone pinged with a text. "Dad wants us to come down to the den."

"Oh, okay." Kurt said. He let Thad get up and then he did.

"Go ahead. I'm right behind you." He put his hands on Kurt's waist. Sam and Sebastian followed them. They made it down the hall and turned and suddenly Kurt heard "Surprise!" from about 20 people including the three behind him.

Kurt was certainly surprised.

"Happy Birthday to you!" rang out in full harmony, including a beatboxer.

Kurt had a huge smile on his face.

"Come on out back. Everything is set up," Jeff said.

"You three tricked me into singing for an hour making it so noisy upstairs so that I didn't hear nearly 20 people setting up a party." He turned to look at Thad, Sebastian, and Sam.

"Guilty as charged," Sam said. "But it was for a good cause."

"Well, let's go party then," Kurt said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The Warblers all arrived ready to swim. Thad, Kurt, Sam, and Sebastian went back upstairs and changed into swim trunks and went back out to the backyard.

Burt, Art, and Donovan manned the grill. Ellen, Carole, and Solange arranged picnic foods that they had obviously gone out and gotten at some point in time without Kurt noticing. There were bags of chips, cookies, baked beans, potato salad, pasta salad, and a few fruit trays and raw vegetable trays with dip. They had already put out a selection of drinks.

It didn't take long for people to notice their tattoos and make comments.

Once the food on the grill was ready, the guys got out of the pool and started filling plates full of food and eating.

Kurt and Sebastian helped Thad out of the pool. Once Thad's brace was on, he stood up. Kurt wrapped his arms around him from behind. "I love you so much. Thank you." He kissed him on the back of the neck, then moved to stand beside him and took his hand. They walked over to the table full of food and filled plates as well.

Kurt leaned over and whispered, "What do you think of telling them now that school is over?"

Thad answered, "I don't think any of them would go run off and get married just because we did. They're our friends, so I'm sure they'd be happy for us. We can tell them if you want to. I'm fine with it."

Kurt stood up. Everyone quieted down. "I just wanted to thank all of you for the surprise party. You all did a great job of keeping it a secret. I had no idea."

Everyone nodded.

"We have something for you," Trent said. He went over to a bag sitting on the side of the patio far from the pool. He came back and handed Kurt an envelope.

Kurt opened it. There was a card in it with a poem about friendship. All of the Warblers had signed it. It also had a $300 Ikea gift card in it.

"Thank you." He was smiling, trying not to cry at the same time. In all honestly, this was the first real birthday party he had had since he was a young child. "That was really kind of all of you. You didn't have to get me anything. Just coming today means so much. More than you know, actually."

"Well, we were all happy to come," Nick said.

Kurt smiled and looked around. An overwhelming feeling happiness came over him when he realized that no matter how horrible parts of his senior year had been, here were 15 people who cared enough about him to show up to celebrate his birthday just because they were invited and wanted to come.

"Thad and I actually have something we want to tell all of you."

Thad stood up, locked his brace, and wrapped his hand around Kurt's waist. Kurt did the same to him.

"We're married," Kurt said.

"What?" Nick and Jeff said excitedly.

Lots of "Congratulations!" were heard. Several of the guys moved to them and hugged them or shook hands with them.

"When?"

"Where?"

Thad answered. "Over spring break in New York, since it's not legal here."

"Also, just a small disclaimer. Just because we did this doesn't mean that we're recommending it for everyone. It was a personal decision that we made just for ourselves," Kurt added.

"Most of the guys would never consider it," Trent said. "A lot of the guys at Dalton have very strict rules - either written or unwritten family rules. A lot of us would lose our trust funds for marrying a guy or for getting married before we graduate from college. So, I don't think you have to worry about starting a teen marriage trend."

"Well, that's good, I guess. I don't have a trust fund to worry about and Thad's parents eloped right out of high school, so he didn't have to worry about breaking any family rules."

"So your parents weren't upset?" Richard asked.

"Nope," Thad answered.

"My dad was surprised, but eventually came around." Kurt said. "He has had a bit of a problem accepting that I'm not a kid anymore, but he's doing better."

"Most of our parents won't deem us to be adults until we pass the bar exam or finish our residencies or get Master's degrees or PhDs." Luke added.

"Wow. I never thought about it like that," Kurt said.

"So, you definitely won't be causing a mass exodus to a courthouse in New York," Flint said.

"You don't have to worry about us telling our parents though," David said. "We don't want any of the rules at school to be changed."

"I see. Well, thanks for being supportive - all of you."

"We aren't our parents," Flint said. "A lot of them believe in equality as a concept that gets applied in unequal ways. Just like Trent said. A lot of them will say that they are for marriage equality, but they would never actually vote for it, nor would they allow us to remain in good family standing if we married men. But as we get old enough to vote, we will support it and we won't disown our own kids."

"And we'll openly support our friends, even now." Richard said.

"Thank you," Kurt said. "I've thought about some of those things - about how hard it would be to have parents who weren't accepting to the point of actively rejecting their kids. It means a lot to me that all of you openly support us."

"A lot of the gay guys at schools like ours realize that playing the game is the best way to make changes. Some of them 'date' girls who are also playing the game - girls who want to grow up and have real careers or who may be gay too. But they can affect change more quickly if they play by the rules - go to college, collect their trust funds, take their jobs in positions of power, and THEN make changes."

"They're making a personal sacrifice either way," Kurt said. "If any of you are doing this, I want to thank you. Really - thank you. And if any of you end up found out and disowned, I'll do anything in my power to help you. I don't have money or influence, but I care. My dad's working to make changes as well."

"You're dad rocks." someone said.

"And you're completely wrong about not having any influence." Trent said. "Those of us who had never seen a same-sex couple in love have seen the two of you stick together through some really awful things. We've never seen you treat each other disrespectfully or play mind games with each other. We've seen you be more decent to each other than most of the married people we're related to."

Nick added, "Plus, how many people will be influenced by your dad's 'aw shucks, I'm a regular guy like you and gay people are cool' attitude. Given the general idea we have about where you come from, it's not likely that he grew up believing that. My bet is that he believes that now because of you. He changed because of you and he has the charisma to affect change in a lot of other people who grew up with the mentality that he did. 'Local mechanic champions gay rights', goes a long way in making changes in people's minds. It makes them think."

Just then Burt came outside and walked over to the tables. "That prep school you all go to find the cure to bottomless pits? You all don't eat like the teen boys I know," he teased.

"Actually, we were talking about what a great job we all think you're doing," Flint said honestly.

"The cure for bottomless pits AND an interest in politics? What's in the water at that school?" he laughed.

"Don't worry. They didn't cure us of being bottomless pits. That's what half of the cost of attending covers, I'm sure. They let us eat as much as we want," Jeff said.

"Well, that explains the high cost," Burt laughed.

"Everyone is all serious because we were talking about how a lot of the students at Dalton have very strict family behavior codes."

"I see. I'm thinking this has to do with...?"

"Yes, we told them."

"I take it that some of your parents would have disowned you for such an action."

Most of them nodded.

"A lot of the guys in this group, and the school in general, had a 25-year life plan created for them the day their fathers found out that they would be born male," Flint said.

"I see," Burt said.

"Especially if they are the first male in their family," Nick added.

"Getting to be in this group was the only thing that many of us got to choose for ourselves," Richard said. "The Warblers are a time-honored tradition at the school and getting selected is laudable. It's as good as getting on the debate or fencing team. Even though I doubt that anyone in this group would be allowed to continue to study music UNLESS the person is pretty much a prodigy on some instrument, like piano or violin that could get them into Julliard, and then into the New York or London Philharmonic."

"So that speech that Thad got up and gave was like throwing pies in your parents' faces?" Burt asked.

"Pretty much," David said.

"Follow your heart, do what you love, love what you do, be yourself... those are not things we grew up being told," Flint said. "To have Thad stand up in front of everyone and say that he was studying music and that he and Kurt were staying together wasn't really the kind of speech that crowd is used to hearing."

"Duty and honor are usually the key elements of a graduation speech." Jeff said.

"Well, then, you gave an even better speech than I thought you did and I liked it before," Burt said to Thad.

"Thank you," Thad said.

"You're welcome. Now you boys better get up there and eat the rest of that food," he teased.

"Yes, sir." he heard from several of the guys. They hopped up and went back over to the food table.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Everyone went back to swimming for a while after they had finished eating. Eventually, some of them had to leave. They dried off, put t-shirts on and asked the seniors to sit down before anyone left. The rest of the group got in formation with Trent at the front. They sang Rascal Flatts' "My Wish" for the seniors.

As soon as they finished, Kurt was on his feet and moved to Trent and hugged him. "You're going to be a great lead. I know that giving up your council position was hard, but you're going to be great!"

"Thanks, Kurt."

"You all sounded great. Thank you," Nick said.

There were lots of hugs and promises of keeping in touch. A half hour later, it was just the four guys left.

Sebastian and Sam headed inside.

Kurt and Thad started cleaning up the food table. Kurt went inside in search of some rubber bands or something to close up the chip bags with. The food that could spoil had already been taken in and put in the refrigerator. Kurt returned with rubber bands. "You'll never guess who's inside."

"Who?"

"Sam's parents are here. They're in the den talking with all of the other parents. That's where Bas and Sam went."

Once they had carried everything inside, they headed upstairs and showered and spent a good bit of time in the shower kissing. They redressed and headed back downstairs since Sebastian hadn't come upstairs.

What they found surprised them. Sebastian and Sam were sitting next to each other holding hands in the den with the parents. When Burt saw the two of them, he motioned for them to come down the hall.

"Hey, Kurt," Dwight said.

"Hi."

"Happy birthday!" Mary said.

"Thanks."

Kurt and Thad sat down in an oversized chair together.

Carole and Solange stood up. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I'm taking Solange to the airport."

Sebastian let go of Sam's hand and followed his mom out of the room and gave her a hug before she and Carole left. He went back to his spot on the couch and took Sam's hand again when he sat down.

"None of us will say anything about Sam to anyone, Dwight," Burt said.

"I appreciate that. I'm not sure if we'll ever be ready for other people to know. Unless I find a job somewhere more tolerant, I'm afraid Sam will be in the closet for a long time. Stacey's only 7. She's got another 11 years of school. Hopefully things won't stay like the are now for the next 11 years, but I don't want her harassed or Stevie either."

Sam spoke up. "Dad, I understand. That's why I debated for so long and why I had never said anything. I'm graduating and I can move on and move away and what I do will no longer be of any interest to anyone. I just couldn't live my life lying to you and Mom."

"And you know that we value honestly, Sam," Mary said. "I'm glad you told us rather than hide it and lie to us."

"It will take time to readjust how we see things. It's easy enough to hear the other six of you tell us that you love your sons and them being gay doesn't change that. It's easy enough to listen to people say that you didn't choose this, Sam. But it will take time for us to come to terms with such a huge shift in what we have been taught to believe is true and what a few people are telling us. We will come to terms with it, but we will be caught in the middle until your grandparents are gone and the rest of Lima gets with it as well."

"I know, Dad. But you're not angry with me are you? Or disappointed?"

"No, Son. I could never ask you to marry someone you don't love. I could never do that to you. We'll be fine."

"Thanks," Sam said.

"Sweetie, we have to get going back to Lima." Mary said. "Quinn was sweet enough to agree to watch the kids this afternoon. We can't keep her late. We told her we were going to Kurt's birthday party with Sam. She has exams this week too."

Mary and Dwight stood to leave.

"I'm glad you came over today," Art said as he stood. "I'm glad you got a chance to meet Solange and that we got to meet as well." He walked with them. Burt stood as well and walked with the three of them to the door.


	27. Chapter 27

Monday morning, Kurt, Thad, and Sebastian woke up in an empty house. Thad and Kurt had seen their parents off when Burt and Carole took Donovan and Ellen to the airport about two hours after Carole had come back from taking Solange to the airport. Sebastian had spent quite a bit of time talking to Sam in the driveway before he finally left.

It was strange to go from having so many people around to eating alone again. Kurt made breakfast for all of them and they sat at the island to eat.

Sebastian and Thad both laid small wrapped boxes on the island in front of Kurt.

"Yesterday was crazy with so many people here, we decided to wait until this morning to give you your birthday presents," Thad said.

Kurt picked the present from Sebastian up and opened it. "It's the brooch that I loved from the flea market we went to. Thank you! It's fabulous."

"I'm glad you like it."

Kurt opened Thad's gift next. He pulled out the glass brooch that he had liked in the Tiffany museum gift shop. "It's beautiful. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Now we'll have to find places to wear these lovely pieces to when we get to Paris." He had a huge smile on his face.

"I'm sure we can," Sebastian laughed. He slid an envelope onto the table next. "This is from all of the guys for the two of you. They asked me to wait until today to give it to you."

Thad picked it up and opened it. It was full of cash.

"What's this for?"

"It's their wedding gift to you. You two just don't realize what an impact you've had on those guys, and me too of course."

Kurt slipped the money out and counted it. "There's over $1000 in here."

"They love you two. There's not much else to say."

"We'll use it to buy the furniture we need or something," Kurt said, tears streaming down his cheeks. It was then that Kurt remembered the folder of notes the Warblers had written that Headmaster Carlson had given him that he still hadn't read.

Thad reached over and used his thumbs to wipe the tears away.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They hadn't really talked before they went to sleep Sunday night. It had been a very emotional day and they all were pretty lost in their thoughts and fell asleep that way. But now that no one was around, they started to talk again. They stretched out on the couches in the den, Kurt and Thad on one together, Sebastian on the other.

"So, Sam is definitely coming to France," Kurt said.

"Yes. Does that bother you?"

"Nope, not at all. Just some logistical issues to figure out how it can possibly work."

"Well, I have amassed a good-sized savings account over the years. Every penny that my dad sent to my mom that she didn't use in my direct care, she deposited into a savings account on the chance that my dad would eventually disown me.

She wanted me to have enough money to start my own life as an adult after I finished college in France. He was only legally obligated to pay child support until I graduated from high school. They had made an agreement that he would pay my college expenses if I decided to stay here to go to college, but that was just a verbal agreement, not part of the divorce decree and child support agreement."

"So, you're going to buy Sam a plane ticket," Thad said.

"I am."

"What about a passport and the visa issue?"

"He applied for a passport the Monday after Nationals, so almost a week ago. He should have it soon. I've made an appointment for him at the French Consulate in Miami while we're going to be in Florida, but I don't think he needs a visa."

"Good plan."

"I should write a thank you letter to McKinley."

"What on earth for?" Kurt asked.

"For providing such incompetent teachers that Sam had to resort to getting tutored by you and then the three of us. I would have never gotten to know him so well if we had just met at some club or something. I know we moved fast, but it was actually really slow if you think about it - 8 months of getting to know each other before we even held hands."

"And then 8 minutes before you were holding something else," Kurt said laughing.

"Bawdy? Now this is a new side. I thought you were so prim and proper," Sebastian teased.

"I never wanted to make you feel uncomfortable or left out."

"See - and sweet. I'm not sure my innocent ears can take veiled innuendo and bawdiness from you."

"Mmm hmm. I'm pretty sure that between the time you and Sam arrive in Paris and the time that Thad and I arrive, that there won't be any part of either one of you left that will be 'innocent'."

Sebastian cracked up.

"We're going to need really good white noise machines," Thad said.

Sebastian laughed even harder.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Tuesday morning, they drove to the recording studio and picked up the Warblers CD. They stopped by Office Depot and picked up a pack of CDs, labels, cases, some bubble wrap, and enough padded envelopes to send them out.

They spent the afternoon prepping the CDs to mail them out. Once they were finally done burning them, putting them in cases and packaging them, they took them to the post office. They kept the ones for their parents to give to them in person.

Later that afternoon, Kurt, Thad, Sebastian, and Art headed to one of the high schools in Columbus for the State Semifinal lacrosse game. Kurt and Thad no longer felt the need to hide their arms and wore their Dalton t-shirts. They sat in the stands talking for a while. Eventually Sam showed up and sat with them. They cheered and clapped. Sebastian scored 5 times, but it wasn't enough. Dalton had lost. The four of them walked down to the edge and congratulated Sebastian on what a great job he had done. Art, Kurt and Thad headed back to the house together, leaving Sebastian to come back home with Sam after their date.

There was plenty of leftover food in the house still. Kurt and Thad made plates for themselves and ate quickly and went upstairs.

They hadn't had any time alone, except in the shower, in days. They had moved out of the dorm nearly a week prior. They wasted no time locking the door and taking advantage of an empty bed for two rounds of lovemaking and then moving themselves to the bathroom for another make out session that ended quite blissfully in the shower.

By the time Sebastian got back, Kurt was snuggled up on Thad's chest and they were listening to a book lying in the bed.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian spent all morning Wednesday sorting through his stuff, organizing it and trying to pack it.

"Somehow, I have twice as much stuff as I came with," Sebastian laughed.

"Well, if it won't all fit in your suitcases, you can mail some of it back if you have to," Thad said.

"No, no, no. Some of it just can't go."

"Well, Sam certainly won't use all of the space in the luggage set you got him. Maybe you can put some of your stuff in his suitcases," Kurt suggested.

"Maybe I can just give him some of my stuff period. They're nice clothes. I don't just want to toss them, but I don't need this many."

"Just wait to pack and let him look through everything tomorrow when he gets here. He only has one final in the morning, so he's ditching at lunch, going home picking up all of his boxes and driving here. He has to pack his stuff in the suitcases after he gets here anyway," Kurt said.

Wednesday afternoon, Sebastian drove to Westerville to have his patch sewn on his letter jacket and to pick up Sam's jacket. Thad and Kurt went with him and walked around for one last nostalgic visit before they left for good while Sebastian was in the shop. They met back up at the ice cream shop.

Sebastian showed Kurt Sam's jacket. "What do you think?"

Sebastian had Sam's name sewn on along with William McKinley High School on the right chest. He had a football with a 6 and QB sewn into it on one sleeve with a patch under it that said "Conference Champions 2010-2011". On the other sleeve, he had chosen a large treble and bass clef patch and had the words "New Directions" stitched on it and underneath a patch that looked identical to the ones they had, except it said "4th Place National Show Choir Competition" instead of 6th place.

"Oh, wow. It looks amazing. It looks like it should. The school was so cheap they never got the patches for the teams. I'm sure he'll love it."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They had lunch ready and ate as soon as Sam arrived on Thursday. Once they finished eating and cleaned up the kitchen, Kurt, Sam, and Sebastian started bringing in Sam's boxes and carried them upstairs to Sebastian's room.

Once they were all upstairs, Sam started opening them and going through them. "I'm sorry I didn't sort these at home, but I packed them as fast as I could last night after Stevie and Stacey went to bed. I didn't want to answer any questions."

"It's fine, Sam. We understand. You had finals to study for and two sets of prying eyes to deal with. Go ahead and do what you need to, but I have something for your first. Close your eyes."

Sam closed his eyes and waited. Sebastian pulled his jacket out of the closet.

"Okay. Open your eyes."

"Oh wow!" Sam stepped forward and looked at the front and the sleeves. He put it on and looked in Sebastian's mirror in the bathroom. "It looks really cool now. Like a real letter jacket. Without the patches, it never looked complete to me."

He pulled Sebastian into a hug. "It's a great graduation present. Thank you!"

Sam slipped it off and Sebastian hung it back up. Sam went back to sorting through his boxes. Kurt went down and brought up a small trash bag for some schoolwork and things that Sam didn't need anymore.

Once he had sorted through the non-clothing items, Sam played dress up while Sebastian admired his abs. Thad and Kurt decided to give them the privacy their activity seemed to need by going in one of the guests rooms.

A couple of hours later, Sam knocked on the door. "All of the clothes are packed," he said without attempting to open the door.

Kurt and Thad put their shirts back on and went back to Sebastian's room.

They made plans to go to Goodwill the next day and decided on making a late afternoon snack before they got ready for the evening.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"I'm so excited. I've wanted to see this for so long." The four of them were nearly at the auditorium doors. Kurt could barely contain his enthusiasm. The other three were smiling because he was making them laugh with the enthusiasm.

"You have the entire score memorized, don't you?" Sebastian asked.

"Of course!"

"Of course," Sebastian repeated.

The four of them were directed to their seats and waited. Thad put his hand on Kurt's leg an attempt to calm him down. It had little effect except to make Kurt smile more.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt was standing in line afterwards singing "Defying Gravity". He was complimented several times while waiting. He bought a _Wicked_ t-shirt and they left.

"That was so awesome. Amazing! You all liked it didn't you?" he started to sound concerned.

"Of course we liked it," Sebastian answered.

"Definitely," Thad agreed.

"It rocked!" Sam said.

They really did all enjoy the show, although not nearly as much as Kurt, but his enthusiasm was contagious.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They finalized their packing on Friday.

"So, let's go out somewhere fun and eat after drop off the stuff in the boxes at Goodwill," Sebastian sad.

The four of them headed out. Thad went down the stairs first and the other three followed him carrying boxes.

They drove to Goodwill and dropped the boxes off and went inside. They followed Sam over to the shoes.

"Hey, look. Some gray Vans." Sam slipped off the red Chucks that Kurt had given him the previous spring and tried them on. "Ooh, perfect. These will definitely look better with shorts, which I could still use a few pairs of..." he trailed off as he started looking through the racks at the shorts in his size.

He took a bunch of pairs to a dressing room and Sebastian pushed him into the handicapped room and followed him in. Fifteen minutes later, they emerged with Sebastian holding a few pairs of cargo shorts and the Vans. Sam hung the rejects on the rack by the dressing rooms.

"Well, that's it. Shorts and shoes. I"m good. Let's pay and go eat."

After they finished lunch, they headed to Michael's to get a tube to put Sam's rolled artwork in to keep it from being ruined in the suitcase.

"Can anyone think of anything else?" Sebastian asked.

"Luggage tags," Kurt said.

"You're right," Thad said. They went next door to the office supply store and bought enough for Kurt, Thad, and Sam's suitcases.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Kurt has the neatest handwriting. He should do the luggage tags," Sam said.

"Alright, fine. Let me see one of yours, Sebastian, so I know what to write on them." As he finished each one, Sam grabbed it and fastened it to the right suitcase.

"We need to get everything prepped for tomorrow once we're done. Lots of food to chop and prep," Thad reminded them.

"Don't remind me. I think it was Dad's way to make sure we'd stay home this evening."

"Could be," Kurt said. "Or maybe he just likes my cooking."

"Well, that too," Thad said. "Everyone likes your cooking." He kissed the back of his neck.

"If you want me to finish, you can't do that," Kurt said.

"Hmm..." Thad said, but he quit.

A few minutes later, Kurt finished the last one and they headed downstairs to the kitchen.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Instead of going out to eat after the ceremony, Dwight, Mary, Stevie, and Stacey had lunch at home with Sam.

Kurt, Sebastian, and Thad left McKinley about 10 minutes before the ceremony was going to end and headed to the Hummel's. Kurt had Carole's remote for the garage door and they pulled straight into the garage. They went inside and set up the food that Carole had made the night before. Sebastian got the grill started and put burgers on to start cooking.

Kurt turned the heat on the huge pot of water that was on the back burner and once it was boiling, he put the ears of corn in. He checked on the potatoes in the oven.

By the time Carole and Burt pulled into the driveway, everything was nearly ready to serve. The three guys took the first burgers that were done and put them on buns and dressed them and ate them. They hugged Carole and Burt and told them they'd see them later. Carole thanked them for getting everything ready for her. Kurt handed her the garage remote on his way out.

The three of them got back in Sebastian's car and left. They had to wait about an hour for Sam to be ready to be picked up. Kurt directed Sebastian to Burt's shop and they pulled around back where the cars waiting to be worked on were sitting and just talked until Sam texted them that was ready.

Sebastian pulled up about a block down from where Sam lived and Sam climbed into the front seat and they headed back to Art's.

Later that afternoon, Burt and Carole showed up at Art's for their final family dinner before the four teens headed off to Florida and then to France.

The four boys had prepped all of the taco fixings the evening before. All they needed to do was grill the meat and slice it up. The all went swimming for a while before they fired up the grill, which Burt and Art oversaw again.

Kurt, Sebastian, and Sam carried the fixings out to the table on the patio. Art had taken the meat inside and sliced it and put it into bowls and brought it back outside. Everyone went through buffet style and fixed their own tacos.

Kurt whispered to the others, "Remember last weekend with 'I Get Around'?"

They all three nodded.

"Let's sing it for them after we eat. My dad's a big Beach Boys fan."

They nodded again.

After they finished and had taken he leftovers inside and put them away, Sam and Sebastian went upstairs and brought the guitars down.

Art, Carole, and Burt were sitting in the front room waiting for them. Thad and Sam sat on the couch. Kurt and Sebastian sat the ends on the arms of the couch.

"Round, round get around. I get around." Kurt sang lead on the choruses and Sebastian sang the verses.

Art, Burt, and Carole had big smiles on their faces while the four of them sang.

"That was great. What are the chances you'll sing it again and let me record you?" Carole asked.

"Sure, but let us arrange differently," Sebastian said. "I don't think you can get all four of us in the shot from where you're sitting."

Sebastian climbed behind Sam and sat on the back of the sofa. Kurt followed his lead and sat next to him. Carole recorded them when they sang it a second time.

"You guys sound really good together."

"Thank you," they all said.

"I loved it," Burt said laughing.

"Me too," Art said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, they loaded all of their luggage in the backs of Art's and Carole's cars. Once they arrived at the airport, Sam and Thad stood with all of their luggage while Kurt and Sebastian said goodbye to their parents. There were a lot of tears and hugs.

"Take care of each other," was the last thing Burt said to them all.

They waved as they turned back and looked before they went through the doors. They got in line and checked all 8 suitcases. Kurt and Sebastian had carry-ons and Thad and Sam were taking their guitars on as their carry-ons.

Once they arrived in Florida, the car service that Art had hired picked them up in an SUV so that they had room for all of their luggage. They got to the condo about 4:00 in the afternoon.

The first thing on the agenda was to take Sam to the beach to see the ocean. Even though they were all tired from traveling, they got their swim clothes on. Once they were ready, they headed out the door, around the side, down the walkway, and out to the beach. They all walked together at the pace that Thad could manage.

Sam loved it. "This is freakin' awesome!" Once they got close, he took off and ran straight into the water, with Sebastian following close behind. Sebastian tackled him and they both fell in. When they got back up, Sam wrapped his arms around Sebastian and kissed him. After the initial shock wore off, Sebastian kissed him back.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After an hour or so, they headed back to the condo. Kurt showered first, then Thad, then Sam, and last Sebastian. By the time Sam was ready, Thad was back in his brace and ready to do the rest on his own.

While Sebastian and Thad finished getting ready, Kurt and Sam took the bikes to the grocery and bought enough food for a few days. Kurt told Sam to pay attention and the next time he could go with Sebastian if he wanted to since Sebastian had been to the store before.

On the way back, Sam said, "This place is awesome, Kurt. I can't tell you how much I already love it here."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I know. I get as excited as you are every time I've been here. This has been my safe haven after the school was vandalized. It's the only place that feels like home now."

"Your school year totally sucked."

"Not completely. I met Sebastian. Thad and I faced a lot of really horrible stuff together and came out strong. You and I became better friends. Now we're all spending time here and you and Sebastian are going to France. Then Thad and I are going to France. Me. You. To France. It's unbelievable. It's amazing."

"You're right."

"We're here." They slowed down and pulled up into the yard. Kurt unlocked the door and they handed the groceries to Sebastian, and then they took the bikes around the back. Thad opened the gate and let them in.

"A second hammock?" Kurt asked.

"I ordered it on Amazon the other day. The cleaning lady left it on the credenza. We just didn't notice it earlier."

"Excellent."

Five minutes later, the four of them were lying in the hammocks, enjoying the breeze, listening to the sounds of the water, and cuddling. By 8:00, it was starting to get dark and they headed inside.

For their first night in Florida, the four of them went to Kurt and Thad's favorite Cuban café. They took their time walking. They talked and enjoyed the sights. Everyone enjoyed what they ordered. They walked back home quite full and happy.

When they got back, they decided to go to sleep since they all wanted to get up early enough to see the sunrise on the beach.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The four of them made their way down to the beach in the dark. Thad left his brace on the back porch. He wrapped his arms around Sebastian's and Sam's shoulders and they carried him down to the beach. Kurt carried the towels and sand castle building supplies.

They laid out towels and waited. Kurt and Thad were sitting on one towel together and Sam and Sebastian were sitting on another. Thad leaned back on Kurt when Kurt started placing small kisses on his neck. Kurt wrapped his hands around Thad and held him close. Sam and Sebastian were sitting side by side and were playing footsie and tickling each other's hands gently.

Once the sun started to come up over the horizon and began to reflect on the water, Sam said "That is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Photos are great, but it's just so huge. Photos just don't do it justice."

Once the sun was fully up, they turned their sights on building sand castles. They stayed out until about 8:00 and then headed back up to the condo to shower and get ready for the day.

Sebastian and Sam headed into Miami for his appointment at the consulate. Kurt and Thad headed to the tattoo shop to get their ring finger tattoos done.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt showed Charli their rings so she would know how wide the tattoos could be, but still be covered when their rings were on. He had already sent her the drawing that he had done, but he knew that she would have to do it by hand.

Kurt had his done first and then Charli had Kurt hold his hand in place next to Thad's so she could make sure to do them as identical as possible.

"Everyone that I've shown my tattoo to has commented on what a good job you did," Thad told Charli.

She just smiled.

She worked carefully to get them the same. Kurt's design was very ornate and from a distance it would look just like a scroll-patterned ring. Only up close would someone be able to tell the swirls spelled a word.

She finally finished Thad's and they had their fingers wrapped and were ready to go. They both thanked her and promised her pictures once they had healed.

They headed out to have lunch at another place they both liked. After they ate, they went back to the shop where they found the Florida hoodies.

"We need to see if we can find one for Sam. He's the fourth musketeer, he needs a hoodie like ours."

Thad laughed and helped him look for the hoodie. They found the same style that they had bought at Christmas and picked a sunset orange one for Sam. They headed back to the condo after Kurt paid for it.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sam and Sebastian got back to the condo not too long after Kurt and Thad had.

"Sam, sit down and close your eyes."

Kurt whispered to Sebastian to pull his hoodie out and put it on. Kurt ran upstairs and got his and Thad's out and brought them back down. They both put theirs on as well.

"Put your hands out." Kurt put the hoodie in his hands. "Now, open your eyes."

He looked down and then at the three of them.

"We can't have our fourth musketeer missing his uniform," Kurt laughed.

Sam slipped it on and smiled. "So I'm officially a musketeer now?"

"Well, you're the only person I've brought here besides Sebastian. I've never even allowed my parents to know where this place is. So, I think you're officially a musketeer."

"Wow. Now, I feel really special. You've never even let Burt and Carole come?"

"Nope. Information kept making its way to unwanted ears. I couldn't risk it. This is my home, my safe place. I know it's Thad's parents' condo and it doesn't belong to me, but it's where I've been safe all year."

"I get it. It's really amazing here. Thanks for letting me come here and for the hoodie."

Kurt leaned over and side hugged him. "You're welcome. Let's get a picture of all four of us somehow."

They went out on the back porch where the light was good. Kurt propped his phone up and pressed the timer several times.

They went back inside and slipped the hoodies off and headed back into the kitchen to start working on the homemade pizzas they had bought the ingredients to make.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The four of them lazed around the next two days just enjoying the beach and hanging out together.

Kurt was surprised by how quickly Sam was at ease with Sebastian publicly. When they were out in public, Sam initiated physical contact with Sebastian as much as the other way around. Their long distance friendship building over Skype gave them the air of a couple that had been together a lot longer than two and a half weeks.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

At the end of their fourth day in Florida, Sebastian surprised Sam by taking him to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Sam had thought they were flying out for France that night, so he was already packed. It wasn't until right before they left to go to the airport that he told him. Sam was both shocked and thrilled.

"We're what?" Sam asked.

"We're going to Olivander's."

"I heard you the first time, I'm just confused. Is that a restaurant or a store?"

"No, it's a wand shop. You'll need a wand."

Sam still looked confused, then realization flashed in his eyes. "We're going to the Harry Potter theme park?"

"We are."

"Really?"

"I would never tease you about something like that. Of course."

"You'll love it," Kurt said.

"I'm sure I will," Sam said. "It's going to be awesome."

Kurt and Thad hugged both of them before they left. Sam still had the incredulous smile on his face while he was packing his suitcases and guitar into the taxi to go to the airport to pick up the rental car.

They waved as they rode off.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad sat down on the couch together after they went back inside. "So, your parents are coming the day after tomorrow. We need to move some stuff around and do the sheets before they get here."

"I know you don't really like sleeping down here. I could ask my parents if they would trade."

"No, they're already so generous, I can't ask them to do that. It'll be okay."

"I have a surprise."

"What?"

Thad pulled his phone out and turned some music on and put it on the side table. Then he took the brace off and leaned it against the couch and the table. He stood up and said, "May I have this dance?"

"Seriously?" Kurt had a huge smile on his face.

"Yes, seriously."

"Of course, I'll dance with you."

"The physical therapist said that I could take it off for 10-15 minutes at a time as long as I didn't do anything strenuous. I don't think slow dancing is strenuous."

They held each other close and mostly just swayed, but it was easy like it had been when they first danced together.

After a couple of songs, Kurt led them back to the couch and lay down. "Come on, lie on me, please? I just want to hold you."

Thad lay down on Kurt and Kurt wrapped his arms around him. They listened to the music for a while.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They moved upstairs and showered. Kurt grabbed his lotion on the way back into the bedroom. He pulled out their little battery-operated candles and turned them on and turned the lights off.

"Can I give you a massage?"

"Definitely."

Kurt pulled the sheet back and Thad scooted to the middle of the bed. Kurt started with his feet and worked his way up. He interspersed the massage with kisses and caresses. When he finished Thad's back, he had him turn over and he did his chest and his arms.

Thad gently tipped his face and started kissing him on the lips. "Lie down. Relax."

"Lying down on you while we aren't wearing any clothes doesn't end up in me being relaxed," Kurt teased as he eased himself into lying on Thad.

Thad laughed. "I suppose not, but I like it," and they continued kissing.

Kurt slid over to the side just a little and sort of turned Thad into a body pillow. He was half lying on him, with his arms wrapped around him and they legs intertwined. "I love you. So much."

"I love you too. I think I'm a pile of goo. I think my bones turned to mush. That felt so good."

"I'm glad. That was the whole point." Kurt kissed him. "I want to ask you something."

"You know you can ask me anything."

"Are you satisfied? Is there anything I'm not doing for you that you'd like me to?"

"Not that I can think of, why? Did I give you the impression that I was disappointed about something?"

"No, not at all. I just know that we had talked a long time ago about the roles we saw ourselves in and you seemed to want to switch and we haven't and I want to make sure that you're not upset or anything."

"Oh. I remember us talking, of course. And if you ever want to switch we can, but I'm not disappointed or unhappy at all. I was pretty sure my enthusiasm was obvious," he laughed shyly.

"I just don't want to be selfish or not give you want you want, if that's what you want to do."

Thad moved enough that he was nearly on his side and he could look Kurt in the eyes. "You aren't selfish, at all. You always make sure I'm comfortable, that I'm not in pain, that there's no pressure on my leg - all while making me feel fantastic. I am not lacking anything and I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything, if that's what you're wondering."

"You'll tell me if you ever feel like you are, though, right?"

"Of course."

"Okay. I'll stop worrying."

"Good. I know you love me and I love you and if something is bothering me, I won't just bottle it up. I know you want me to be happy and I want you to be happy too."

"I am. But better than that, with you, I just feel peaceful. It's the best feeling in the world. Thank you for holding on so tight when I felt like I was slipping away."

"Always. You've said that I am your home. You're mine too, you know. From the very first night you held me in your arms. That's where I belong."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The next morning, Kurt downloaded _Insurgent_. They spent most of the day in bed. And the part they didn't spend in bed, they spent in the hammock outside using the splitter and earbuds to keep listening. It was reminiscent of Thad's recovery the previous summer when they binge listened to audiobooks when he was in so much pain, laying absolutely still, but holding hands for comfort. But this time, no one was in pain and they lay touching in as many places as they could comfortably manage.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Ellen and Donovan arrived mid-morning on Friday. Not long after they arrived, Kurt got a call from Sebastian letting them know that he and Sam had arrived safely in Paris.

The four of them took the rental car and went to a larger grocery store and stocked up. They put the food away, changed clothes, and headed out to the beach.

Having Ellen and Donovan at the condo wasn't much different than having Sebastian and Sam there. Kurt felt completely at ease around them. They made meals together, watched movies, and read. With two hammocks, everyone could enjoy lounging around outside.

The three days passed quickly and Sunday afternoon they were saying their goodbyes. Their transfer back to England had been approved and they would be based in London again a few weeks after Kurt and Thad arrived in Paris.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad had one last week in the condo by themselves before they were going to fly to Paris.

They spent as much time on the beach and enjoying the outdoors as they could. Kurt collected small shells that he planned to turn into a frame.

Their last afternoon, they went to their favorite Cuban restaurant. It was bittersweet because they enjoyed going there so much, but they knew they wouldn't be back for a while, maybe a long while. The reality of just how far away France was started to become very real to Kurt.

Thad took his hand as they left to walk back to the condo. "We'll find a place like this for us in Paris. You'll see."

Kurt nodded. "You're right. This isn't the only place I can ever feel happy. It's just been the only place so far. Paris or other places can be happy places too. I just have to remember that."

They looked around, making sure they hadn't left anything behind. Kurt put all of the suitcases out on the front sidewalk and Thad locked the door once Kurt had them all out. They waited for the taxi and headed off on their long journey to their future.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Sebastian and Sam were waiting for them when they arrived. They were guided to the photo booth and had mini photos printed that they used on the Metro cards they bought.

Sebastian and Sam had arrived on public transportation, but Sebastian had hired a car to drive them back to the flat. They got all of the luggage in the car and headed out. They arrived about 40 minutes later. The four of them managed to get the luggage up to the flat in one trip.

They stopped in the kitchen and Sebastian gave them the tour. "So, obviously we came in through the entry way. That's the washer closet you walked past. There are drying racks and a rod to hang clothes to dry in there. As you can see, we're standing in the kitchen, which is open to the dining area and the living room. Over there," he pointed to the right side of the room, "is your room, the bathroom, and our room."

The four of them took Kurt and Thad's things into the bedroom.

"Oh, wow. You painted it for us. Thank you," Kurt said.

"You're welcome," Sam said. "We figured it would be a lot easier to just get that over with so we could get your furniture delivered right away, which means this afternoon."

"That's quick," Thad said.

"Well, Kurt sent the list of things to get and we figured it would be easier to assemble it with all of us working on it," Sam said.

"I'm sure it will be," Kurt said. "It looks great in here. I love how the color turned out. And I think the white furniture will look really good with the white trim and crown molding."

"Over there is the bathroom," Sebastian pointed out. "Obviously, this is the closet. Follow me."

They left everything in the middle of the room.

"We repainted our room as well. And rearranged the furniture and updated it for the two of us. We got some new sheets and a new duvet cover."

"I see that you've hung up some of Sam's watercolors," Kurt said, walking over to one and admiring it.

"Yes, that was part of the updating. I took down some of the stuff that had been hanging up since I was a kid. We got matching desks and an art table for Sam."

"I like the look. It looks inviting and comfortable," Kurt said.

"That's the door from our room into the bathroom that opens into the living room."

Sam led them back out to the main room. "We bought a sleeper sofa to add to the sofa that Sebastian already had. Now, Nick and Jeff can sleep on it and we'll have room for more people to sit down without having to sit on the floor."

The two sofas were sitting in an L formation with the backs against the left corner of the room when looking from the kitchen. Above the regular sofa was a large picture window. On the wall that all of the doors were on was a narrow bookcase, a credenza-like cabinet that had a TV on it and another narrow bookcase to the other side.

On the left side of the room the piano sat between the kitchen cabinets and the end of the sofa. There was a corner end table with a tall, multi-bulb floor lamp standing behind it in the corner where the two couches nearly met.

The kitchen had a small island area closer to the stove and sink. There was a dining table in the center of the space between the kitchen area and the living room area.

Kurt and Thad looked around. "It's cozy and homey. I like it," Kurt said. He walked over toward the couch in front of the window and looked out. Tears ran down his cheeks. Thad followed him and wrapped his arms around him. Kurt turned a little and slid to where they were standing side by side. "We're here," Kurt whispered.

"We are."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

The four of them ate lunch and cleaned up. Sebastian's phone rang and he hung up quickly. Kurt, Sam, and Sebastian headed outside to start bringing in the furniture. There were 2 desks, the bedframe, the mattress, two nightstands with drawers, a bookcase, a sewing table and a dresser - all in about what seemed like 400 boxes.

"Well, I think we should start with the bedframe. Once we're too tired to figure out which pieces go where, we'll at least be able to go to sleep," Thad said.

"Good plan," Sam said.

They opened all of the boxes that had the parts to the bedframe in them. Thad got the job of foreman and telling everyone what to do since he couldn't get down on his hands and knees to help.

The bedframe was put together and in place with the mattress on it a couple of hours later. Sam and Sebastian had washed and dried all of the bed linens that Kurt and Thad had picked out. Kurt and Thad made the bed together.

They got to work on the dresser next. They figured they could tackle the rest of the furniture the next day. Once they had the dresser together, Sam and Sebastian left the two of them to unpack on their own and started working on the nightstands.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

When they opened the closet, they found that someone had already put in the shoe shelves that they had chosen and that there were hangers waiting to be used.

They got busy and unpacked all of their clothes and put them in the closet or the dresser. They left the items that were going in the nightstands on top of the dresser they were sharing. Kurt was the first to go in the bathroom and he found that someone had already hung up their shower curtains and that the bathroom had been freshly painted as well. Kurt put all of their toiletries on the counter waiting to decide a little later where to actually put everything.

"It's starting to be real. Really, real," Kurt said. "Seeing our clothes in the closet and in the dresser. Putting all of our stuff in the bathroom."

Thad wrapped his arms around Kurt's neck. "Those are happy tears, right?" he asked as he stepped back a bit and wiped the tears away.

"Yes. Happy tears."

Thad wrapped his arms back around Kurt's neck and held him close.

Sebastian knocked on their door.

"Come in." they both said.

"Are you ready to go out and get the lamps and curtains, now that you've figured out where you're putting everything and you've seen the room in person?" Sebastian asked.

"Um. Yeah, sure," Kurt answered.

"We can put a blanket over the window if you don't want to go out."

"No, no. I do. I'm ready."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt, Sam and Sebastian carried the bags of lamps into the bedroom.

"Do you have an ironing board and an iron?"

"Sure, in the closet with the washer. I'll go get them." Sebastian set the ironing board up and plugged the iron in.

"We'll keep working on your nightstands," Sebastian said. He and Sam left the room.

Thad helped Kurt by keeping the curtain panel from rewrinkling while he ironed. They laid the panel out on the bed and Kurt ironed the next one. The put the clips on and Kurt pulled the curtain rod down and they slipped the rings on and hung the rod back up. He straightened them out.

"I like them," Thad said.

"Me too."

"I'm going to grab the shower curtain and iron it before we put these back away. The wrinkles might fall out eventually, but I'd rather just iron it."

"Okay."

Ten minutes later, it was rehung. Kurt turned the iron off to let it cool.

"Let's go put our bathroom stuff away."

Thad followed him into the bathroom and they arranged everything. Thad didn't really care where anything went, but listening to Kurt's reasons helped him to remember where to put things later.

Thad looked in the bathtub. "He got us a shower stool and a shower head with a hose on it."

"That was really sweet of him. He's done a lot to make us feel welcome here. And Sam too. He redid his own room to make it their room."

"Let's go help them put more stuff together."

Kurt grabbed the ironing board and Thad grabbed the iron and wrapped the cord up and they went back out into the main room.

"How's it going out here?" Thad asked.

Kurt put the ironing board away and came back and grabbed the iron and put it away.

"We're getting there," Sam answered.

"Thank you for the tub accessories," Thad said.

"Oh, you're welcome."

"Everything is perfect," Kurt said. "You guys went to a lot of trouble for us. We really appreciate it."

"We passed our own test too," Sebastian laughed.

"Sebastian said that the furniture assembly and home remodeling is a relationship test. If two people can put Ikea furniture together and not yell at each other, they're a strong couple," Sam supplied.

"I can see how that's probably true," Thad laughed. "You guys have been working really hard while we were lying around in a hammock."

"Meh. You two needed to lie around in a hammock. And our house remodeling bonding test has gone just fine," Sam said. "So, don't worry that we've been here yelling at each other or stressed out or something."

"Okay," Kurt said. "So, Nick and Jeff arrive next week?"

"Yep," Sebastian answered.

"Well, there's one done," Sam said. "We should be able to get the other skeleton done quickly now that we did one." He was right. Less than 30 minutes later, they had the other skeleton done. "Let's put them in your room like this for tonight. At least you can set the lamps on them for the evening. We can put the second set of drawers together tomorrow."

"Thank you," Kurt grabbed one and Sam carried the other one.

Thad took one of the lamps out of the bag and sat it on top and plugged it in. Kurt went around the bed and grabbed the other and placed it on top and plugged it in as well. He turned his on. Thad flipped his on too.

"And there was light," Sam said in a very theatrical voice.

They all laughed and went back out to the main room. "Let's eat. I'm starving," Sam said.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A couple of days later, they had gotten everything assembled, put into place and all of their stuff put away. They had been grocery shopping and started to get into the groove of all of them living together. Sam wasn't familiar with Kurt's particularities when it came to order, but Sebastian had told him about Kurt's eccentricities before Thad and Kurt arrived, so there weren't any big issues.

Sebastian had taken Sam to visit some English-language art schools. A couple had rolling enrollment and Sam had applied to those.

Sebastian gave them street crossing lessons and lessons on how to ride public transportation. He took them to a few of his favorite shops and restaurants, but they put off the big touristy places until Nick and Jeff arrived.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Monday afternoon, Sebastian and Sam went back to the airport to retrieve Nick and Jeff. When they arrived, Kurt was shocked by the amount of luggage they had, but didn't say anything. He and Thad had made lunch and had it ready when the other four got back.

They sat down and ate, mostly in silence. Once they had cleaned everything up, Nick asked everyone to sit on the couches.

Jeff and I have something we want to tell you guys. Nick took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Jeff and I went to New York before we came here. We got married."

"Wow. Congratulations!" Kurt said first.

"We've been in love since we were 14," Jeff said. "We never, ever let on to our parents. We've been friends since we were babies, like we told you. They let us room together at Dalton all four years. We've been together all that time."

"You guys did a good job of keeping it private," Thad said.

"We had to," Nick said. "All those things that were being said at your birthday party - those are all true about my family. I am the only son. My life was mapped out from before I was born. I would go to Dalton. I would go to Harvard, Yale or Columbia. I would be a lawyer like my father and one day work at the family firm with him and then take it over, with Jeff of course, since his father and my father own the firm together."

"But we wouldn't be allowed to run the firm as a couple, but as two men who would choose wives from the ivy league school we would attend," Jeff said.

"So, was this a spur of the moment decision or something you planned out?"

"Both?" Nick said.

"We were planning on rooming together in college and keeping everything on the DL like we have been. But honestly, seeing you two together was killing us. You had what we wanted. We just wanted to be ourselves and be together. We saw people who had never considered being truly accepting change their minds because of you two," Jeff said.

"But actually getting married and being together for real, that came after you two told everyone you had gotten married. We thought about the speech you gave, Thad. We were not living the truth. We couldn't truly be at peace and have that joy and contentment you talked about when we always had to make sure we were maintaining a proper friendship distance between us in public all the time. It was hard to be only best friends when I saw Jeff upset about something. My instinct was to walk up and comfort him - to touch him and hold him. But I couldn't. It was miserable."

Jeff spoke again. "We talked about it before your announcement though. When you invited us to come here, we started thinking. We realized that Kurt and Thad were coming here permanently. We hadn't heard them talk about college at all. We looked at applying to college here and we still had time to do it. So, we did. We sent in applications to several schools here. We decided to not follow the plans that were laid out for us. We decided we'd come and apply for long-term visas. We'd be free."

"We know our parents will disown us. Maybe they will come around some day and realize that they still love us. We don't know though. Our siblings will all be fine with it. We haven't told them yet though. We have enough money to buy a flat or rent somewhere if we can't buy as non-citizens. We have a lot to learn. We know that. Maybe it will all blow up in our faces in a few months when our parents realize that we both deferred our admission to Harvard and that we aren't going back."

Jeff said, "We're free. We're together. We'll figure it out together."

Kurt got up and pulled Jeff up to hug him. Nick was next. "That was really courageous of you both."

"We decided on the getting married part after you two told us," Nick said. "We talked about it and we wanted to make it official. Well, as official as we could. I know Ohio and our parents won't accept it as official, but it is to us."

"We went to New York the Tuesday after your party. We drove and got a marriage license, stayed in a hotel, and went back the next day and got married. We're going to pick out rings here."

"What about your trust funds?" Kurt asked. "Will you lose those?"

Nick answered, "No, because the stipulation was that we had to get into Ivy League schools, be 18, and graduate from Dalton. We had all of those requirements complete and we went on the Monday after graduation and signed all of the paperwork and our trust funds were ours."

"We will need to get new financial advisors here, though," Jeff said.

"I'll help you find someone," Sebastian said.

"Once the papers were signed and the money was transferred to our accounts, there is nothing our parents can do to take the money back," Nick said. "But like Jeff said, we do need to get it reinvested."

"So, you'll stay with us for a while and look for a place of your own then?" Sam asked.

"That's the plan," Nick answered. "First we have to figure out the laws about renting and buying. We're not sure what's a better financial decision here."

"We should find out about getting into colleges here fairly soon. I was sneaky and took a picture of your luggage tag to get the address here," Jeff said. "So our acceptance or rejection letters should come here. I didn't want any of them sent to our family homes. We figured if they came before we got here, that you'd hang on to them for us."

"I would have, but I haven't gotten anything. None of us has yet. We're all waiting to find out too," Sebastian said.

"So, do you have any pictures? We'll show you ours," Kurt said. "Follow me."

Kurt led them into their bedroom where he and Thad had hung a small collage of the photos from their wedding and their vows.

Nick and Jeff looked at them. "Those are really nice." Nick took his phone out and showed everyone their photos.

"Those are good. We'll show you where you can print some if you want."

"That would be nice. At least a single wallet sized one for now. Once we figure out where we're going to live, we'll get more printed," Nick said.

"So, you aren't going to tell your parents anything for now?" Sam asked.

"Nope. They think we've come to stay for the summer. They think we'll be back at the end of August to go to Boston," Jeff said.

"I ended up telling my parents the afternoon after Kurt's birthday party." Sam said. "The day before I was certain that I wasn't going to, but then I changed my mind. They weren't thrilled, but they didn't disown me. We're dirt poor so they had nothing to hold over me or to offer me to continue to date girls. But I can only imagine how hard it will be to tell your parents. I mean I know you got your trust funds, but I'm assuming that you were in line to get a lot more money than that in the long run."

"Well, we were supposed to inherit the law firm with our siblings. And yes, we were set to inherit other family money later in life. And unless our parents change their minds, we'll never see any of that money," Jeff said. He wrapped his arm around Nick's waist. "It doesn't matter though. We really thought about a lot of things. What Thad said in his speech really hit home. We can't buy back the time we waste not being together like we want. Every minute we police ourselves is a minute of joy we subtract from our lives. We thought about the money. We can make our own money. We can study hard, like we have been. We can make our own way. And we aren't starting from nothing. We have plenty of money to pay our way through school and to live on until we can start working full time. Most people don't have even that. Most people start their adult lives with virtually nothing."

"Like me," Sam said.

"I have a small amount of money from my mother's life insurance policy, but it wouldn't have been enough to pay for four years of college in the States, not unless I went to community college or a small state school," Kurt said.

"We've gotten too used to being around people with ridiculous amounts of money," Jeff said. "We can't think that way anymore. All that money isn't giving those people joy-filled lives from what we've seen. Being together is what we want. We can make it without inheriting a law firm we don't want or the stocks and bonds. Our sisters can inherit them, although neither one of them is studying pre-law to get into law school. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"Well, I'm glad you're at peace with your choice. And I'm really excited for the two of you," Kurt said.

"Thanks," they both said.

"And feel free to be yourselves here. We'll find a way to give you privacy even though you'll be sleeping out here. Oh, Sebastian got you a sleeper sofa, so you won't have to sleep separately."

"Really? That was really nice of you. Thanks," Nick said.

"You're welcome. We could get a couple of those standing room dividers and you could put them up when you go to sleep at night. That would be some privacy at least."

"That would be nice," Jeff said.

"Why don't we go get a couple of them and we'll go out for dinner," Nick said. "You've already done so much for us. It will be our treat."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

They all became tourists for the rest of the week, going to the places that Sam and Kurt had never been to and Thad was too young to remember visiting. The six of them enjoyed each others' company, even with living in such close quarters.

Later in the week, on Friday, Sebastian surprised the other five by taking them to a dance studio for a lesson. Sam had no idea how to do any of the types of dances that Kurt wanted them to know how to do to go to the dance places that Sebastian had told him about. Nick and Jeff had never taken any formal lessons, but it was obvious that they had danced together quite a bit. They all had a lot of fun.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

By early the following week, there were letters arriving from schools. All six of them got into at least one school in Paris. Sebastian took Sam, Jeff, and Nick to apply for long-term student visas for them to stay in France since they had acceptance letters from schools in Paris.

Sebastian and Solange helped everyone get all of their legal issues straightened out by finding the right people to go to for help.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

After Kurt received acceptance letters, he relaxed and began to feel like everything was going to work out. He had finally gotten accustomed to being in Paris and speaking French so much of the time. He felt more like he belonged.

He knew that it was time to face his past.

He and Thad took the metro to the closest point to his grandparents' place. They walked the rest of the way. It felt like they had walked for miles and miles by the time they got there, but it was just the unease of the whole situation that made it drag out.

Kurt walked up to the door and knocked. A man who appeared to be in his 70s answered the door. He had a full head of completely white hair and was wearing pleated dark gray slacks and a light blue button up shirt with a navy cardigan.

" _Is this the residence of M. Bertrand Marchand?"_

" _Yes. I am M. Marchand. How can I help you two young men?"_

" _My name is Kurt Hummel."_

The man turned and called loudly, _"Charlise!"_

" _Come in, Kurt. Come in,_ " he said opening the door up and allowing Kurt and Thad into the house.

A woman about the same age came into the room quickly. " _What is it, Bertrand? Why are you yelling?"_ She was drying her hands on an apron tied around her waist. She was wearing a floral print short-sleeved empire waist dress.

" _Kurt is here."_

She stopped and froze. " _Kurt?"_

" _Yes, Mamie. It's me."_

" _Oh, my God. How did you find us? Never mind. You're here. Please sit."_

Kurt and Thad sat on the sofa. His grandparents sat on a love seat that was situated perpendicular to the sofa.

" _You must be 18 by now."_

" _I turned 19 a little over a month ago. This is Thad, my husband."_

" _It's nice to meet you M. and Mdme Marchand,_ " Thad said.

" _It's nice to meet you as well, Thad. Please call us Bertrand and Charlise."_

Thad nodded.

" _You two are married?"_

" _Yes, Papi. We got married in New York state, where it is legal. He and I graduated from high school in May. We're starting university here in the fall. We moved here recently."_

" _Moved?_ " Charlise asked.

" _Yes, Mamie. We've moved here. We'll be staying until we finish our studies, maybe longer."_

" _If you knew where we were, why haven't we heard from you?_ " she asked

" _How about we start with you telling me what you know. I feel like I need to know that before I answer more questions."_

" _Well, Elizabeth met your father, fell in love, got married, and stayed in Ohio with him. She got pregnant with you. We didn't like your father. We resented him for taking Elizabeth from us and keeping her there. She let us talk to you on the phone and we always enjoyed that. She sent us photos of you and drawings you had done,"_ Charlise said.

" _Then, suddenly about 10 years ago, it all stopped. We should have persevered. She was always the one to call us. We should have tried. We knew your grandfather owned a shop. We just thought... Well, we didn't think obviously. We figured that your father had found out that she was still contacting us and didn't want her to. We didn't want to make things bad for her. She was nearly 30 years old and could make her own choices and if we weren't part of that, then we just chalked it up to her choice."_

Kurt was clearly struggling listening to them talk. Thad scooted closer and wrapped his arm around Kurt's waist and reached to take Kurt's hand in his.

" _Mamie and Papi. It wasn't her choice and it wasn't something my dad did. When I was eight, Maman and I were in a car wreck. We were hit by a drunk driver and Maman was killed._ " Kurt was flat out bawling.

" _What?_ " Charlise asked, clearly hoping that she had misunderstood Kurt through his sobbing.

Thad spoke. _"A man who was drunk hit the car that Kurt and his mother were in. Kurt survived the accident. His mother did not."_

Bertrand scooted closer to Charlise and she leaned into him. They were both crying.

" _Why didn't your father tell us?"_ Betrand asked.

" _He sent a letter to the address that she had in her address book. He never got a response. He assumed that you had gotten the letter and didn't want to speak to him. He didn't know that I knew you and Tata Belle. When I asked to call you, he thought I was playing pretend because he didn't speak French and he didn't know what 'Mamie' and 'Papi' meant or what 'Tata Belle' referred to. He told me that he thought I had regressed back to talking about my imaginary friends that I had when I was preschooler because I was so upset about losing Maman. When he got no response from you, he thought you didn't want to have anything to do with me."_

" _When did you find all of this out?"_

" _Just this year. I had to do a lot of research to find you and it was my friend Sebastian's mom who lives here in Paris that helped me. That's who we live with - our friends Sebastian and Sam."_ Kurt was still crying, but not as hard.

Betrand pulled his phone out of his sweater pocket. " _Excuse me for a moment."_ He got up and walked to the other room, but Kurt could still hear him. _"Isabelle, I need you to come over as soon as you can. No, it can't wait."_ He came back in and sat down. " _Isabelle's on her way. She should be here in 10-15 minutes."_

Charlise said, _"Your French is flawless. How do you speak it so well with Elizabeth gone?"_

" _My dad paid for me to take lessons from a native speaker at a local college. She used some textbooks. I'm assuming they were the same type French children used in school. They were a lot like my schoolbooks."_

" _Well, at least you didn't lose that part of her,"_ she said, still crying. She got up and sat next to Kurt. " _You have her eyes, and even her ears._ "

" _I know. I look at her picture a lot. I still miss her."_

" _I'm sure you do. We miss her too."_

" _I'm sorry you didn't know what happened."_

" _No, honey. We should have pursued finding out why she quit calling. You were a small child. You couldn't have done anything. And you did something as soon as you were old enough. You did everything you could have done. Please don't feel bad."_

They had mostly quit crying by the time Isabelle arrived.

She knocked and tried the door and let herself in. _"What was the big hurry? Is Mom hurt?_ she asked before even getting the door all the way open and looking into the room. _"What's going on?"_

" _Isabelle, sit down please,"_ Charlise said.

Isabelle sat next to Bertrand on the love seat.

" _Who are these boys and why are you crying?"_

" _This is Kurt and Thad."_

" _Kurt? As in Elizabeth's Kurt?"_

" _Yes, dear."_

" _Oh, my God. Kurt?"_

" _Yes, Tata Belle. It's me."_

" _If Kurt's here, where's Elizabeth? Did she come with you? Wait you were both crying. What's going on?"_

" _Isabelle, Kurt told us that he and Elizabeth were in a car accident and she didn't make it."_

Isabelle started to cry. _"Oh, God. No. Why didn't I just fly to Ohio and see her? Why?"_

" _Because we were all stubborn jackasses, that's why,_ " Bertrand said. _"And Kurt paid the price for that. He grew up thinking that none of us loved him. His mom was killed and we weren't there for him."_

" _Well, I can't undo all the wrong we did, Kurt," Isabelle said. "But it's not true that we didn't love you. We were just stubborn. You were caught in the middle. I'm so sorry."_

" _We're all sorry,_ " Charlise said.

" _How long are you staying, Kurt?_ " Isabelle asked.

" _At least until we finish school. We start this fall."_

" _You moved here?"_

" _We did. We're living with two friends of ours, here in Paris."_

" _Wait, how long ago did this happen?"_ Isabelle asked.

" _A little over 10 years ago."_

" _So, she stopped calling because..."_ she didn't finish.

" _I'd like to just say one thing. My mother was never afraid of my dad. I can't answer why she never told him that she was still in contact with you three. That's something we'll never know. But I can tell you for certain that my dad loved my mother very, very much. So, whatever disagreements you had with him, he did not forbid her from contacting you."_

The three of them nodded in understanding.

" _So, I'm here now. The past is in the past. If you want us to be part of your current lives, I'll leave my phone number and our address. If you'd like, you can call us."_ Kurt took a piece of paper out of his wallet and handed it to Bertrand. _"I know I've given you a lot to think about. Thad and I will give you some time to process what I told you. Feel free to call me."_ Kurt and Thad stood up to go.

His grandparents and aunt stood as well, not really knowing what to do or say. Kurt and Thad moved toward the door and let themselves out.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Betrand, Charlise, and Isabelle got in contact with Kurt a few days after he had been to visit. They invited Kurt and Thad to dinner. They went and enjoyed themselves. Kurt knew it would take time to get to know each other again, but he felt positive about the prospect of having his grandparents and his aunt back in his life.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Nick and Jeff worked with an agent and found a small one-bedroom apartment to rent that wasn't that far from the others. They moved out the beginning of August. They all worked together to get their place ready to move into and helped put furniture together.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

Kurt and Thad spent their summer getting to know Paris. Sometimes with Sam and Sebastian, sometimes with Nick and Jeff. They did things together with all six of them. But Kurt and Thad loved going off together and finding places to enjoy just the two of them. They'd take the metro out to the end of the different stops and get off and find places to enjoy time away from the hustle and bustle of life in a huge city.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A few days after Nick and Jeff moved out, Kurt and Thad took a picnic lunch with them and went on one of their adventures. This time it was to a place they had been, but hadn't fully explored. They sat on a blanket they'd brought with them in the park at the head of the Île de la Cité, enjoying their lunch and watching the boats on the Seine. Once they finished eating they packed everything back up and Kurt put the backpack back on.

Thad took his hand and they walked back toward the center of the isle. "Are you happy here? If you're not, we can stay here for a year and apply to places in Florida for next school year."

"I like it here. It's just very different. I'm getting used to it. There are just so many people and just so many buildings in such a small space. It's noisy and just very, very different."

"We need to find some more places where we can have some peaceful quiet times."

"That would be good. I love being with you. I really do. I love you so much. I think part of it is just decompression. I was elated after it the constant fear was over. And I think I went from really low to really high. We had the national competitions and graduation and my amazing birthday party. Then we had our vacation to Florida and coming here was super exciting. And we had barely gotten used to living with Sam and Sebastian and Nick and Jeff came and stayed with us for five weeks. They've moved out and I think it will get better now. I love Nick and Jeff, but 6 people in such a small space with how crowded the city is in general was just too much I think."

"It was. I felt it too. Do you think we'll be okay with just Sebastian and Sam or do you want to go ahead and get my parents to rent a place just for the two of us. You know they will and they won't mind at all."

"Let's just see how things go. Sebastian really wants us there with them. I think with just the four of us it will be fine."

They walked around hand in hand. They walked through Notre Dame again. Kurt led them into a pew and sat down. He put his arms on the pew in front of them and leaned his head onto his arms. To anyone passing through, he looked to be deep in prayer. Thad sat with him and waited. About 10 minutes later, Kurt leaned back. A few minutes later, he stood up. Thad followed him outside.

"Let's see if we can find someplace to buy one of those noise machines that produces different sounds. Being in the church in the silence just made it really clear. I'm not sleeping well. Let's see if we can find one that makes sounds like we are used to hearing, like crickets or something."

"Alright."

"We can turn the noise machine on near the window and still play the music we want to listen to through the iPod speakers. Maybe we can make it so it's more like what we were used to Westerville. If that doesn't work, maybe we can try an ocean setting and we can make it sound like it does in Florida when we can hear the water and the wind."

"You're exhausted, not unhappy, like I thought. Why didn't you tell me you haven't been sleeping well?"

"I guess I didn't really realize it. Being in the silence in the cathedral made me realize. I fell asleep with my arms like that on the pew in front of us. I just was out. The door opened and woke me up. It's not like I've been lying awake all night. I fall asleep. I must just not be sleeping soundly."

"We'll figure something out." He led Kurt over to a bench facing the water. They sat down close together and Thad wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulder and Kurt leaned over onto him.

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

A month later, their classes had started, and the spring was back in Kurt's step. He had reached an emotional equilibrium and he had been sleeping well. He had been back to his cheerful self for three weeks.

Kurt took Thad's brace and put it on the nightstand. He turned the lights off, and turned their little candles. He surprised Thad by turning twinkle lights on.

"You found some."

"I did."

"They're perfect. I missed ours."

"Me too. I actually have this song I want to sing for you. We've been married six months today and together for a year and a half. Some of the words of the song were more like what would be at a wedding and I changed those just a bit. I know things were rough after we got here and we had to work hard to get back to an even keel. Just listen." Kurt got up and stood at the end of the bed and started playing the keyboard and singing.

Thad slid up in the bed and sat up to listen.

 _Let the bough break, let it come down crashing_

 _Let the sun fade out to a dark sky_

 _I can't say I'd even notice it was absent_

' _Cause I could live by the light in your eyes._

 _I'll unfold before you_

 _What I've strung together as_

 _The very first words of a lifelong love letter_

 _Tell the world that we finally got it all right_

 _I choose you_

 _I became yours and you became mine_

 _I choose you_

 _I choose you_

 _There was a time when I would have believed them_

 _If they told me that you could not come true_

 _Just love's illusion_

 _But then you found me_

 _And everything changed_

 _And I believed in something again_

 _My whole heart_

 _is yours forever_

 _This is a beautiful start_

 _To a lifelong love letter_

 _Tell the world that we finally got it all right_

 _I choose you_

 _I became yours and you became mine_

 _I choose you_

 _I choose you_

Kurt turned the keyboard off, slipped his pajamas off, and got back into bed. Thad slid back down in the bed. Kurt lay on his side facing Thad. "I just want you to know that I love you so much and I am so glad that we are together. The part where it says 'then you found me and everything changed and I believed in something again' that is absolutely true. You've been with me through so many hard times. You are my favorite person in the whole world and I love you more than words can express."

"This hasn't been a one way deal. You stuck with me through the hardest thing I had ever been through. We had only been together for a few months and you chose me then. You continue to choose me and that makes me the luckiest guy ever. I love you. And you are absolutely my favorite person in the whole world too."

"Kurt rolled back toward his nightstand and turned on some Spanish guitar music. Now, that we have our crickets and our music and our lights, we're just missing the making out to put everything back to the way it should be." Kurt kissed Thad.

Thad gently placed his hands along the sides of Kurt's neck and drew him in and deepened the kiss.


	28. Epilogue

**Four Years Later**

"Are you even considering going?" Kurt asked Sam.

"Not really. It's a bucketload of money just to go to a wedding when he and I weren't even close. I mean, I know the reunion is the weekend before, but I haven't kept in contact with anyone from the group. So, I guess I'm not seeing much point."

"I'm not sure what to do. I mean, he is my stepbrother and we did work out our issues a long time ago, but we've never been close either. I have no reason to go to the New Directions reunion. I was only in the group for not even 3 full semesters."

"Maybe they invited anyone who was ever in the group?"

"Could be."

"What are you three looking at?" Sebastian asked as he climbed behind Sam on the sofa, slid down, and wrapped his arms around him.

"Oh, Sam and I got invitations to Finn's wedding and to the New Directions reunion, which is the weekend before the wedding," Kurt answered.

Sam scrolled down. "Some people have already replied. Let's see... Rachel, who seems to be the committee chairperson for the reunion."

"Of course," Kurt said.

"Tina and Mike. Santana and Brittany." Sam kept reading. "Puck. Artie. A bunch of people I've never heard of. Blaine and Colin..."

"Colin? I guess he and Rachel broke up at some point," Kurt said.

"Not surprising," Sebastian said matter-of-factly.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

"I guess it doesn't matter if I tell you now. Remember way back when he showed up at our dress rehearsal and I told you that I rode with him to the restaurant?"

"I remember him showing up. How could I forget when he was the bearer of another threat?"

"Right. So, I told you that he and I talked, but I couldn't say about what. He told me that he wasn't bi. He propositioned me. I turned him down telling him that I wasn't interested, which I wasn't. But I was also not going to get caught up in seeing someone in secret. I wasn't looking for someone to hook up with, and I was definitely not looking to hook up with someone who had a girlfriend, or a boyfriend, for that matter. I'm not a plaything."

"Damn right," Sam said as he leaned back and kissed Sebastian on the cheek.

"So, he told you he wasn't bi?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah. He said that back during that time that his dad was really pressuring him to not be an embarrassment to his family. His dad found out about the Gap Attack, which I had a vague recollection of Thad mentioning. His dad told him that he would stop bringing appropriate girls to family dinners, which Blaine hated, IF Blaine would find someone suitable on his own. When Rachel asked him out, he was presented with the answer to his dilemma. He liked Rachel. They had a lot in common. He didn't mind kissing her and playing the dutiful boyfriend. Once they spent time together, she pointed out how he could still graduate when she did if he would transfer to McKinley, which would get him out of Ohio one year sooner and cut down the length of time he had to wait to get his trust fund. He also realized that she was a 100% committed to remaining pure until she had won a big award. So, there was no pressure on him to perform any sexual acts with her that he was not interested in. It was like winning the family approval lottery for him. His parents were surprisingly okay with Rachel's parents being gay given how opposed his dad was to Blaine being gay. Maybe because they have money? I don't know. But anyway, Rachel was his key to easing family tension. They both wanted to study music. Their parents were supportive of their relationship. It was easy. She didn't want sex, and he didn't want sex with her."

"Interesting," Kurt said. "So, he must have played the long game like the guys at Dalton talked about doing. He dated Rachel, graduated from college, got his trust fund, and then started dating guys."

"Anyway, none of that any of that has to do with this," Sam said. "But I really don't see any point in going. I have no interest in going to the reunion or to Finn's wedding. I mean, I'm glad he's happy and all, but we haven't kept in contact."

"I'm just going to reply that I'm not going. I'd love to see my parents, but I'd honestly rather send them the money to fly here for a vacation than to fly to Ohio to see them."

"Let's do that instead. Let's invite them to England," Thad said. "My grandparents have room. They've never been to England and we haven't seen them in a long time. It's been three years since they came here for our French wedding."

"Ooh. Good idea. So, I'll politely decline my reunion invitation and we'll invite my parents to your grandparents'. It can be my graduation present," he laughed. "They asked if there was anything I wanted or we needed. I told them I'd think about it."

"So, you two are going to go to England? Maybe we could convince your parents to come see us?" Sebastian asked Sam.

"I doubt it. There's still Stevie and Stacey for them to deal with."

"They could come too. We could afford tickets for all of them."

"They've still not told them that I'm gay or married."

Sebastian gently kissed Sam on the neck and squeezed him. "I'm sorry. I thought with all of the changes that had been going on with Burt's work in the school district that your parents would have told them."

"Me too. I'm telling them myself when Stacey graduates from high school, if my parents haven't told them by then. I really thought they'd come around by now."

"They don't go to the same church that Karofsky's parents go to do they?"

"No, but they still consider it a life choice and a sin. Their church teaches that it is a choice - like lying and stealing. So, people who act on their homosexual urges are sinning."

"I see," Kurt said.

"I was going to move away from Lima anyway. I wouldn't have been spending a lot of time with them anyway. At least they haven't disowned me. I still get to talk to Stevie and Stacey. I just can't talk about some things. At least we'll still be as close as we could be. Once they're adults, I'll tell them whether my parents want me to or not. Then the two of them can make their own choices."

"So, something more fun to talk about?" Sebastian changed the subject. "Our graduations. We should all go somewhere fun. You two and Nick and Jeff haven't done anything for your anniversaries this year due to school being so hectic. So, what if we find a place for all of us to go together? It can be an anniversary/graduation trip. We could go to the Loire Valley. Or really anywhere."

"It's crazy to think about how we've been married four years and so have Nick and Jeff and you two have been married for three years," Thad said.

"I know. Me married?" Sebastian laughed. "Who would have thought there would be someone crazy enough to marry me?"

"Hey, now." Sam said. "Well, okay. Maybe I am crazy. But the good kind of crazy."

"Of course," Kurt said. "Only someone crazy would have agreed to be the fourth musketeer and put up with my crazy on top of Sebastian's."

"Am I the sane one then?" Thad asked.

"You are definitely the craziest of us all. You picked me." Kurt laughed and leaned over and kissed Thad.

"That was crazy smart." Thad.

"Good answer," Sebastian said.

[] [] [] [] **Epilogues** [] [] [] []

 **Kurt and Thad**

Thad studied music composition and after he graduated, he worked on scoring music for small, independent movies, which he really enjoyed. He was offered jobs working for larger companies, but the offers always involved him spending large blocks of time in Los Angeles and he wasn't interested in spending months away from Kurt.

Kurt studied musical theatre and costume design. His designs were sought after even before he graduated. Once he graduated, he found work quickly in the theaters in Paris designing costumes for productions. He also auditioned for roles and worked in productions as well.

 **Sebastian and Sam**

Sebastian followed through with his decision to become a teacher, but ultimately decided to teach at the college level rather than high school like his mother. He stayed in school until he had completed his PhD. He taught creative writing at a university in Paris. He wrote for his own enjoyment, but never opted to attempt to have any of his writing published. He was surprised to find that Sam had illustrated some of his short stories and he and Kurt had submitted them to publishing companies and they were accepted. After that, he published other novels, which were also illustrated by Sam.

Sam went to art school. He found work as a model for art classes, which eventually led him to looking into modeling professionally. He signed with an agency and booked print ads consistently and did some runway work as well. He continued with his schooling and graduated. He made a decent living selling his watercolors of Parisian landmarks at in a couple of studios in town. He continued to work as model in addition to doing the artwork for Sebastian's books.

His parents never told Stevie and Stacey. He told them the day after Stacey's graduation. The two of them came to visit in July of that year and continued to keep in contact with Sam.

 **Nick and Jeff**

Nick and Jeff came out to their families in August the day before they were due back to pack up to head to Boston. Jeff's father took the news reasonably well. Nick's did not. Nick's father didn't say much of anything because he didn't want to cause a lot of animosity between himself and Jeff's father since they were best friends and business partners.

Both fathers were angry with their sons that they had ditched their family obligations to attend Harvard the way their great-grandfathers, grandfathers and they themselves had. Nick and Jeff both heard lectures about their irresponsibility and how their life choices would haunt them in the future. They were both given the impression that being gay was much lower on the problematic issues list than not attending Harvard.

They held their ground and stayed in France. Nick studied film and directing. Jeff studied kinesiology. They both loved what they studied. After finishing their undergraduate degrees, they went on to graduate school. Nick continued to study production. Jeff studied to become a physical therapist. He also worked as a personal trainer.

They worked for a film company. Nick worked on different aspects of the projects and Jeff worked on the sets as both a trainer and physical therapist for the actors in the movies.

 **Burt and Carole**

Burt finished out his term as a congressman, but opted not to run again. He still wanted to make a difference, but decided that the stress of trying to keep the business running and being in DC so much of the time were too much. He ran for seat on the school board and won. He spurred changes in the school's policies and worked to introduce anti-bullying classes for teachers and eventually anti-bullying literature was used in the reading and English curriculum starting in kindergarten all the way through high school. Carole continued to work as a nurse as she always had.

 **Finn**

Finn completed his first year at Lima Community College and found that he didn't like college anymore than he had liked the academic part of high school. He opted to change paths and pursue becoming a mechanic and eventually take over the shop. He completed his automotive training, but Burt insisted that he also needed to take some business courses, which he did a few years later. Although he hadn't enjoyed the coursework, he did meet a nice girl, Sherrie, at LCC. They started dating and continued even after he changed schools. They got married after she finished college.

 **Rachel and Blaine**

Rachel and Blaine stayed together during their first two years in college. NYADA wasn't what either of them had really expected. In their sophomore year, Rachel auditioned for _Funny Girl_ and got the part of Fanny. She finished out the year of school during rehearsals for Funny Girl, but dropped out of NYADA at the end of the year, feeling that since she had already landed a Broadway role, the school didn't offer her anything else she needed to learn.

Blaine struggled at NYADA. He wasn't top dog and didn't automatically become the center of attention. His previous charisma faded due to the lack of attention being paid to him and it was a vicious downward cycle. The less charisma he had, the less people liked his performances. His parents were not pleased with his grades and told him to transfer to another school or they wouldn't continue to pay for his expenses.

Blaine applied to transfer to NYU to study music production and was accepted. He and Rachel stayed in the apartment they had been living in, but by the end of the summer, it was obvious that Rachel's stardom diva personality was too much for Blaine to handle. He spent a lot of his time on campus.

Once the show opened in late September, it wasn't what she had dreamed it would be. The boredom of performing the same role 8 times a week got to her and she quit by Christmas.

Rachel and Blaine didn't officially break up, but Rachel went to LA and stayed with Cooper when she quit _Funny Girl_. He moved into a dorm at NYU. She auditioned for roles for 6 months after she left the show, but she eventually gave up and went back to Ohio. She went back to McKinley and helped revitalize the New Directions.

When she went back to Ohio, Blaine felt like he could get away with officially breaking up with her, citing the fact that they no longer lived anywhere near each other and that she wasn't willing to relocate to where he was. He casually dated other girls, but never let it get past a few dates each.

Once Blaine graduated a year later, he finally got his trust fund and he found a job working at a studio. He worked his way up and started writing his own music as well. He gave up the charade of being bi and started dating guys. His dad disowned him, which caused his mother to file for divorce. He eventually put out his own album on an indie label.


End file.
